99 Things

Update 2025-07-19: I no longer count things and probably have somewhere between 100-200 now. There are three kids in the house, so "my" stuff gets drowned out by their thousands of objects, leaving a lot less point to the minimalism angle. Below is the list as of last count.

This is everything I own. I have plenty of space in my place for more things, but I find that the less room my possessions take up in my mind, the more room I have for the important parts of life.

I started doing this on March 25, 2012, because cleaning all your stuff after having bedbugs sucks, moving with a bunch of junk sucks, and I'd read Life Nomadic, in which Tynan points out that having a tiny number of things rocks.

Some other amigos have also started doing their own 99 things lists and are even more minimalist than me.

Eldritch Artifacts

1. Laptop
2. Monitor
3. Monitor
4. Phone
5. iPad
6. Headphones
7. Speakers
8. Flash drive
9. DVD drive
10. Boosted board
11. Helmet
12. Projector
13. Mousepad
14. Mouse
15. Sun alarm
16. Bobblehead Chloe

Containers

17. Backpack
18. Backpack
19. Water bottle
20. Water bottle
21. Wallet
22. Healing box

World Delimiters

23. Chair
24. Desk
25. Exercise ball
26. Couch

Documents

27. Letters
28. Checkbook
29. Passport
30. Diploma
31. Birth certificate

Societal Hobbles

32. Nail clippers
33. Razor
34. Toothbrush
35. Deodorant
36. Keys

Tomes & Stationery

37. Pen
38. Small notebook
39. Box of extra business cards

Fetters

40. Shoes
41. Leather shoes
42. Hiking shoes
43. Business shoes
44. Sandals
45. Bundle of backup socks

Raiments

46. Wedding ring
47. Jeans
48. Jeans
49. Shorts
50. Shorts
51. Shorts
52. Dark gray pants
53. T-shirt
54. T-shirt
55. T-shirt
56. T-shirt
57. T-shirt
58. Polo shirt
59. Shirt
60. Shirt
61. Shirt
62. Shirt
63. Shirt
64. Shirt
65. Shirt
66. Shirt
67. Shirt
68. Shirt
69. Shirt
70. Shirt
71. Hoodie
72. Swim trunks
73. Briefs
74. Boxers
75. Boxers
76. Boxers
77. Boxers
78. Boxers
79. Boxers
80. Pajamas
81. Suit
82. Suit
83. Tie
84. Hat
85. Necklace
86. Bathrobe

Want to minimize your stuff but don't know where to start?

The point of the 99 things isn't the number 99, it's the idea of forcing oneself to keep only good and useful things. I (and almost everyone else I know) have a tendency to accumulate stuff, usually with the idea that it might come in handy later or is slightly handy now. This tendency ignores the costs of having so much extra stuff: it takes up physical space, it takes up mental space, it takes up emotional space, and it dilutes the other good stuff you own.

Example of dilution: my apartment got bed bugs from a bird in the chimney. We had to clean everything. There was so much junk! After doing many, many loads of laundry, I just gave away 80% of the clothes and was instantly better dressed than I had ever been. Same thing with my dishes, my cables, and the things in my wallet.

Every time I subsequently got rid of a thing, it was hard to do, but immediately afterward I felt great, and I haven't regretted expelling anything yet. This is a nice consequence of getting rid of many things: you realize that every single borderline ohhh-should-I-really-get-rid-of-this is actually an obvious yes-ditch-it-now.

Every time I subsequently got rid of a thing, it was hard to do, but immediately afterward I felt great, and I haven't regretted expelling anything yet. This is a nice conseI don't think you have to pick a number; you just need some system of forcing yourself to get rid of things in those borderline cases. If you do pick a number, it doesn't have to be 99; it just needs to be motivating. And you don't have to count things strictly; if you can't do it while still counting books, clothes, and skateboards, then count everything except books, clothes, and skateboards. I don't count consumables, I don't count some of Chloe's kitchen or cleaning things, and I count most things that are always bundled together as one thing (like a first aid kit or a bundle of backup sock).

If you decide to do a get-rid-of-stuff purge day, I think it will be great if you make three categories: keep, cull, and purgatory. Things in the third category--things you aren't sure about purging--get put away in your dungeon for a set period of time, like three months. If you didn't go and pull the thing out to use it during that time, then at the end of it, you cull it. I would also set the purge day to recur once a year, or do smaller, targeted purges more frequently (clothes this month, dishes next month, etc.).