100 Thing Challenge: Living With Just 100 Items in Your Life

Dave Bruno looked around his San Diego home one summer and realized just how much of his family’s belongings were cluttering their lives. So he decided to do something about it, in a project he called The 100 Thing Challenge:

By my thirty-seventh birthday on November 12, 2008 I will have only 100 personal items. I will live for at least one year (God willing) maintaining an inventory of only 100 personal things. This challenge will help me "put stuff in its place" and also explore my belief that "stuff can be good when it serves a purpose greater than possession alone."

Lisa McLaughlin of TIME Magazine covered this story:

Excess consumption is practically an American religion. But as anyone with a filled-to-the-gills closet knows, the things we accumulate can become oppressive. With all this stuff piling up and never quite getting put away, we’re no longer huddled masses yearning to breathe free; we’re huddled masses yearning to free up space on a countertop. Which is why people are so intrigued by the 100 Thing Challenge, a grass-roots movement in which otherwise seemingly normal folks are pledging to whittle down their possessions to a mere 100 items. [...]

"It comes down to the products vs. the promise," says organizational consultant Peter Walsh, who characterizes himself as part contractor, part therapist. "It’s not necessarily about the new pots and pans but the idea of the cozy family meals that they will provide. People are finding that their homes are full of stuff, but their lives are littered with unfulfilled promises."

Check out Dave’s progress his blog, guynameddave: Link

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June 14, 2008 at 1:52 pm by Alex
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23 comments to "100 Thing Challenge: Living With Just 100 Items in Your Life"

Sean McKenna
June 14th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
This is a great idea, but not for some of the reasons people will attach to it.

Not for the “over consumption” or the “green” aspects, but simply because when we over complicate our lives with possessions, we end up tied to those things and essentially lose our freedom to move at will because of the ton of baggage we have to drag behind us.

If you can limit what owns you, you become free to experience more of what life has to offer.
CheeseDuck
June 14th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Hmm. Do food items count?
the man
June 14th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
This is great for rich people.

Those of us who are forced to buy things from Salvation Army and Fleamarkets know that the reason that we have so many small things is because we are dealing with outdated and half broken things.

I have two laptops because neither of them had a warranty past 1999. If I could afford a new one with applecare i would only have one.

Simplicity is often more a matter of technological level and money than voluntary simplicity.

Money and technology level also allows one to get beyond huge barriers that leave others in poverty for their lifetimes.

Give up the telephone and see how quickly your ability to earn a living and find a new job drops to nearly ZERO.
Skipweasel
June 14th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
But I have more than 100 tools. How would I make things instead of buying them - how would I repair things instead of replacing them, how would I show the kids these skills unless I had my tools.
Today I’ve used…

Pickaxe, shovel, spade, trowel, big spirit level, small spirit level, bolster, pointed cold-chisel, lump hammer, block plane, tenon saw, long straight-edge, mixing bucket, watering can, hacksaw, socket-set, small screwdriver, wire cutters, broom; and probably a dozen more that are so commonplace that I don’t recall using them. And this isn’t for work, this is at home. (I’m a kept-man - I send the wife out to work while I look after the kids!)
Sofar
June 14th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I don’t really have any possessions. I got about ten suits and turquoise suitcase and that’s about it.
Larfin Jackarse
June 14th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Mmmm…define 100 ‘things’.
1 suit=1 jacket, 1 trouser = 2 things?
1 sound system= speakers, dvd, cd, etc
Angstrom
June 14th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
counting digital things at all I wonder?

1: laptop
2: external drive, full of movies, songs and video games.
3: etc …
Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
June 14th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I doubt I use half that in one day. It’s the food preparation stuff that would probably get me, if anything. A person has to eat!

And do shoes count as one or two items?
K!P
June 15th, 2008 at 2:18 am
1 item = proberly one usefull item. else you could not even wear a shirt, if you count buttons, sleeves ect.
ambrosia
June 15th, 2008 at 7:23 am
I stumbled across this idea a few years ago in a Young Adult novel called the Gospel According to Larry, but according to Wikipedia, the protagonist went a step further and limited himself to 75 items.

I mean, it’s a good idea in that any time you wish to purchase something, you’d have to think extra hard about it, & decide if that item is worth losing something else you love for.

But? Hell, i own over 100 items just in books, & that’s after purging my library of everything i didn’t need earlier this year.
ted
June 15th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Why would I want to check on his progress?
Evilbeagle
June 15th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Truthfully, if you are running a household, 100 things is not enough. If you feel your life is cluttered with things you don’t need, then get rid of those things. Simple. It’s called spring cleaning. I see nothing special, noble, or even practical about this project.
Rosi
June 15th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I don’t think I could do this… mainly due to the boredom. I could probably cope with wearing similar clothes for a long time but not with watching the same films, reading the same books… doing the same things in my free time. I think spring cleaning is good, but this guy might be taking things too far.
prophet
June 15th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
It doesn’t interest me.
Adam Stanhope
June 15th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
This is a great post, Alex!

When I was a young homebuyer at 26, my wife, daughter and I started with very little and even though we bought a tiny house, there was plenty of open space - room for people and guests and parties, etc.

In the 12 years that have lapsed since then, we’ve managed to stuff this tiny home full of STUFF. In my case, it’s mostly books that have taken over my space. For my wife and daughter it is clothes. We’re all responsible for DVDs, furniture we don’t need, useless gifts we’ve received, etc.

I’d love to be able to liberate us from this scourge and return to the good old days. I can’t imagine how I’d go about doing so, however.

This article is food for thought for me. Thanks.
phirzcol
June 15th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
at 30 years old i can commit to doing this. However as i do not have 100 items of my own would people be willing to add to what i need to come to that number.
i have
1 pocket pc
1 laptop
8 pairs jeans
8 pairs shirts
7 pairs boxers
7 pairs socks hmm makes 14 socks
1 belt
2 pairs shoes
1 toothbrush
1 tube toothpaste
1 coffee cup
1 drinking cup
1 razor
100 pack burnable dvds
shit
Larfin Jackarse
June 16th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Another theory I heard which I like is that if you haven’t placed your hand on it in 12 months then throw it out. (Well recycle anyway).
sw
June 16th, 2008 at 8:45 am
i like the idea, but his blog’s a bore. wish more of the content was about what he purged, and if he misses anything. as to the books and cds everyone mentioned, how about the library and video store? he can only own 100 things, but he can borrow like mad.
Reithe
June 16th, 2008 at 9:21 am
This doesn’t seem particularly reasonable to me, as has been said above … the very basics of life require more than 100 items, especially if you plan to cook, clean, or sleep somewhere. I have a book collection that I love. I keep it up very neatly and have even been trying to catalog it. It’s not something I acquired due to an insane need to spend. I think maybe that these people ought to invest in some storage items and junk tossing, rather than limit themselves to a certain # of items … and maybe invest some thought into their shopping habits rather than turn themselves into modern day monks.
DCer
June 16th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Utterly terrible idea. This is pure ignorance. My kids each have boxes of 64 crayons each, should they only get 36 other items? This proves the old adage that humans are suckers for round numbers.
Capella
June 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I dunno, if you have a kid, there is no way int he world you can get by on just 100 items.
Does a box of 48 diapers count as one item?
What about my computer? And the peripherals? And yeah..the food.
I dunno, sounds pretty impractical.
Erica
June 19th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I think it’s a good idea to really take a look at all the stuff that we have laying around cluttering our lives and spirits to get rid of some things. But realistically 100 things would not work with my family of four.
the_prophet
August 20th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
my life is clutter.

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100 Thing Challenge: Living With Just 100 Items in Your Life

By my thirty-seventh birthday on November 12, 2008 I will have only 100 personal items. I will live for at least one year (God willing) maintaining an inventory of only 100 personal things. This challenge will help me "put stuff in its place" and also explore my belief that "stuff can be good when it serves a purpose greater than possession alone."

Lisa McLaughlin of TIME Magazine covered this story:

Excess consumption is practically an American religion. But as anyone with a filled-to-the-gills closet knows, the things we accumulate can become oppressive. With all this stuff piling up and never quite getting put away, we’re no longer huddled masses yearning to breathe free; we’re huddled masses yearning to free up space on a countertop. Which is why people are so intrigued by the 100 Thing Challenge, a grass-roots movement in which otherwise seemingly normal folks are pledging to whittle down their possessions to a mere 100 items. [...]

"It comes down to the products vs. the promise," says organizational consultant Peter Walsh, who characterizes himself as part contractor, part therapist. "It’s not necessarily about the new pots and pans but the idea of the cozy family meals that they will provide. People are finding that their homes are full of stuff, but their lives are littered with unfulfilled promises."

Check out Dave’s progress his blog, guynameddave: Link