I have seen the enemy.....

It's been 6 months since I posted, six months since I shared anything, VI months since I decreed I would change.

I have rid myself of much, but not enough.  I am at $4,000 donated.  I threw away all my year books, I sold about $500 worth of books, cloths misc. items.  I recycled at least a hundred pounds of crap. 

I decided to leave the military, I decided to leave the government,  I still have to leave the war.

I was accepted to the University of Montana.  A nice place where no one knows me, and I don't know anyone. 

The monsters are advancing, and the devils hands have been busy.  Waiting patiently, waiting in my dreams,  methodical chess moves, a pawn slides forward, a rook back,  waiting for the day were we have no more to plunder, no more truth, and when....it doesn't matter.

Happy Holidays,
Don't buy anything
It won't make you happy, just lonely tomorrow.

A Debt owed to No One

It has been 100 days since I paid off all of my credit cards. It's been 30 since I paid my car off.

The course of course...

In the few weeks I have been moving into a "new" apartment. After 5 years of living alone I now share an apartment with Diggy Si.  Definitely an adjustment for my solitude lifestyle, however so far so good.  This also frees up $400 a month in rent to put towards my debt or savings.

Speaking of which I have been credit card debt free for a 2 months...F*!@#$$ AWESOME!  Not that I had a lot of dept, only about $900, which is not unmanageable or even irresponsible for my income.  That being said i can't stand knowing I owe money and that I am losing money due to interest.

I have my car loan down to under $4,000, I plan on paying this off in July and August.  I plan on being completely dept free by August 15.

Update on the "Stuff" I have been slowly going through the items in my world and doing inventory, I will post a list of everything I will be selling.  Anyone can make an offer if they wish to buy.  I am at about 2 boxes of clothes to donate...this is growing every time I enter my closet.

Where I stand,

Donations $2,000

By the by,

Look for the new documentary from a blogger and awesome site; man vs debt. (http://manvsdebt.com/)

A Short Story About My T.V.

A Short Story About My T.V.

For the past 4 years I have had a bank account for major purchases.  In a habit I developed to mitigate major purchases I set up a savings account to stash away money every month to buy large or expensive items.  I never liked the idea of credit cards and buying something that I didn't have the money for, at 15% interest.  I set the account up in June 2007.  On more then one occasion I have withdrawn hundreds of dollars to go to a store to buy a T.V.  On every occasion I had the same outcome, I put the money back into the account.  When the time came I would get cold feet and not buy a T.V., place the money back into the account, just to revisit the same purchase the next month.  Yesterday, I closed the account.

The story of my T.V. is simple, it's still sitting in the store.  After 7 years of not owning one, why am I going back and forth on buying one?  It all comes down to The Network.

 

10 Pounds of Paper and Cardboard

Today in Arclight...

I have recycled all my yearbooks.  The people that I respect and admire, the ones I call friends I still stay in contact with.  That being said I did not enjoy the majority of people in high school or the overwhelming memories of high school.  I view high school as the drive to leave our hometown.  There is no need to hold on to books of photographs that I am not in, nor have anything to do with.  10 pounds of acid washed paper and cardboard, the meaning of prison memories.

“Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mediocre educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom and go to the library and educate yourself if you've got any guts. Some of you like Pep rallies and plastic robots who tell you what to read.” 
― Frank Zappa

By the way here is me shredding old love letters from past girlfriends.  I didn't know I still had them, I have the utmost appreciation for the persons who have written me and the experiences we shared, and in the recycling bin they go.  Someone once said love conquers all, I think I found it's match.

I make the most of what comes and the least of what goes. – Anonymous

Explanations

I am not sure how to express myself in regard to my feeling about my possessions.   How do I convey a feeling being anchored and tied to objects I have little to no connection too?  I have to think back to when I got back from Afghanistan last year...my filled storage locker of all my things, which I didn't miss.  I missed my friends and family. I miss being fresh air, untainted by the open sewage smell.  I missed being able to walk around without a firearm.  I really really missed beer.  However, I never missed my things.  The things I bought to make my apartment a home, the things that I bought for some purpose that I can't remember, the things that I organized and safe guarded.

To answer some of the questions that have arrived from my impromptu Facebook post :

Anderson:  I no longer have the need for the any of it.

Katy:  If I no longer need it, why have it?

Mary jean:  I am doing great...besides you kicking my ass on Words with Friends. 

Nicole:  I always have back packing trip planned.  I have plans for the next ten years.

Diggy:  I was there in spirit. 

Pat:  Yes Pat, I have stuff.  I think you know my stance on stuff better then anyone. 

Kory:  No I am not going to kill my self, as I mentioned to one of my coworkers, I can think of ten people I'd kill before myself.

Jenna: I covered the "Why", but the "How" will be an ongoing process.

Over the next few months I will sell, donate and recycle at least 90% of my things.  Cloths, furniture, random items, kitchen equipment, DVDs, books, etc etc.  I have already started this process by giving away 3 bookcases to the Salvation Army. I recycled over 1000 DVD containers and CD cases.

I will be posting items for sale, results of downsizing and pictures of me going through this process.  i will also ramble about how I came to own the item and why.  I will keep a running tally of cash, tax write offs, recycling and donations.

Behold a bullshit monolith...well half of it.

"You're a shadow. You slip out of your own skin, like molting, shedding your own history and your own future, leaving behind everything you ever were or wanted or believed in." The Things They Carried.  Chapter 20, pg. 211.