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The Life Changing Magic of Living With Less


by neo_kid_851

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     Today we are joined by Atsumi, from Shenkuu, the head of this year’s “Living with Less” movement. This movement has been inspiring those from all over Neopia to finally take control of their hoarding habits, and embrace the magic of living with less. Today, she will be outlining the six steps you can take to “Atsumi” your life, using her famous miatsu method.

     1. Commit yourself to living with less

     Take a good hard look at yourself. Your shop and gallery are full to the brim. Your inventory is so far past its limit, you can’t even remember what its limit is. You want to buy something from a shop? Hah, nice try. Clearing out your inventory to do so seems near impossible. Quick stock can no longer help you, even it has its limits. And your SDB? Good thing there’s no limit there, because you’d be 10x over it. Many years ago you went for the packrat avatar, and from there, you never recovered. Look at the number of items you have now. You don’t need that many! You can’t find anything! If this sounds like you, you have a problem. Luckily, I can help you fix it. Say it with me now - I WILL commit myself to living with less!

     2. Imagine your ideal account

     Do you ever think about Neopia’s 1%, and what the inside of their safety deposit boxes may look like? Rare stamps, high quality battledome equipment, expensive clothing… what you wouldn’t give to live like that! Now look at your own. 367 copies of the ‘Bug Eye McGee’ Neodeck card? Really? Is this the way you want to live?

     3. Finish donating first

     Before you can begin categorising your items, the very first thing you need to do is to clear out the junk. Take a trip to the Money Tree. Things you’ve fished up, token prizes from the battledome, Tombola, and Fruit Machine - you don’t need them. Every Stonefish, Wet Snowball, Pile of Dung, Giant Green Kelp - they NEED to go. Be ruthless. If you don’t need it, and you can’t sell it for more than 50 NP - to the Money Tree it goes. Or, if you want to really do a favour to the population of Neopia - bypass the Money Tree, and just discard it. Because let’s be honest, no one really wants your junk.

     4. Tidy by item type, not by location

     You may be tempted to start clearing out your inventory, followed by your closet, followed by your gallery… however, the most effective method would be to gather all items of the same type you own together, and then clear them out as a whole. You may not even realise you have 3 of the exact same dress in your closet, SBD, and gallery. Bringing all items of the same type together is a far more effective way of figuring out what you can and cannot live without.

     5. Follow the miatsu order

     So, now you know to clear out items by item type? Where do you start? My approach is to clear items in a very specific order. You don’t want to start with clothes, because you will find yourself distracted by trying different items on all your pets, and you will never have time to progress to the next category. Begin with food. If your pets are hungry, feed them. Then, sell your remaining food. It’s not like you can keep food in your SDB for too long, unless you have a fridge in there! Hm? Oh, you do have a fridge? Why am I not surprised?

     Toys are next. Your Neopet does not need more than one toy each. Then books - if your pet hasn’t read it before, you can read it to them now. Otherwise, get rid of it! Then, Battledome Equipment - only keep the most powerful sword you have, no need for more than one! Carry on with school supplies. Do your pets even go to school? Didn’t think so. Magic items are next – use them up! No point hoarding all those Elixir of Intellect potions when Neopet could be reaping their benefits! Then look at gifts. Aside from one token Foal in a Box, there is no need to hoard gifts. If you ever do want to give a gift to a neofriend, wouldn’t it be nicer to get them something new, rather than some piece of junk you’ve been hoarding for years? Clothes are next, and if your Neopet doesn’t wear it, they don’t need it! Neopoint items can be sold, Neocash items can be traded for things you would enjoy more, or simply gifted away! Then look at your Neohome – any spare furniture items are really not needed. Declutter that storage shed to make space for the things you do need. Now is the time to look at any other, miscellaneous items. Chances are, if an item doesn’t fit into any other category, it’s useless! And of course, lastly, collectable items. This can be the hardest category of item to declutter, as we tend to hold onto collectables just for the sake of it. However, you can’t just collect everything you see. Focus on either stamps, TGC cards, or Neodeck cards, and once one collection is complete, you can move onto something else. And don’t even get me started on hoarding multiple of the same collectable item in your SDB. Just put that stamp in your album! Don’t tell me you need 50 of the same stamp as an investment!

     6. Ask yourself, ‘does it bring happiness?’

     Look at what you have left. You’ve kept a few sad little fading bottled faeries, for old times' sake. Pick them up. Hold them firmly. Look at them. How do you feel? Do they bring you happiness? Or do they just make you sad? If you do not feel any sense of thrill when holding an item, why keep it? If it does not bring you happiness, you would be better off living with less.

     Remember, this process is not really about choosing what to get rid of, but rather, what to keep. Let your favourite items shine in your gallery, rather than being overshadowed by things you never really liked in the first place. Let your safety deposit box be a place full of useful items, rather than useless junk. Give it a try, and see how much better you feel living with less!

     

 
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