# 16 Rules for living with less

1. **30 Day Minimalism Game.** Get rid of 1 item on day 1, 2 on day 2, 3 on day 3 and so on... Whoever keeps it going the most, wins.

2. **Photo Scanning Party.** To get rid of physical albums of photos that are left untouched, while enjoying time with friends or family... Once digital it's possible to view them everywhere, specially in high res-frames

3. **No Junk Rule.** Everything can be classified as *"Essential"*, *"Nonessential but adds value"* and *"Junk"*. If it's not essential and it does not give value to your life, then it's junk.

4. **Seasonality rule aka 90/90 rule.** Have you used that item in the last 90 days? If you haven’t, will you use it in the next 90? If not, it’s okay to let go. This covers all the seasons since spring and autumn are similar

5. **1 In, 10 Out Rule.** Want something new? Get rid of 10 things...Want that new shirt? Ten articles of clothing hit the donation bin. Want that new chair? Ten pieces of furniture make it to eBay. Want that new blender? Ten kitchen items are axed.

6. **Just In Case Rule, aka the 20/20 Rule.** Most of the time just-in-case items aren’t things we need at all. Anything we get rid of that we truly need, we can replace for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from our current location.

7. **Emergency Items Rule.** What do you need in case of an emergency? Be careful when you answer this question. It’s easy to justify everything as an “emergency item.”

8. **Just For When Rule.** These items are usually consumables (toilet paper, soap toothpaste), and although they seem similar, they are markedly different from those sneaky just-in-case items. Namely, because we’re certain we’ll use them.

9. **Wait for It Rule, aka the 30/30 Rule.** If something I want costs more than $30, I ask myself whether I can get by without it for the next 30 hours. (If it’s $100 or more, I tend to wait 30 days.

10. **Don't Upgrade Rule.** We know we don’t need Product X to live a good life (even though we really, really want it). When something breaks, we can:
- ***go without*** → question if we really need it 
- ***try to repair it*** → you wouldn't buy a new car if the breaks needed to be replaced
- ***replace it*** → purchase used items from local businesses or even downgrade.

11. **10 Most Expensive Possessions Rule, aka the 10/10 Material Possessions Theory.** Write down your ten most expensive material possessions from the last decade. Next to that, write down ten things that add the most value to your life. It's likely that the 2 lists have *zero* things in common.

12. **Selling Deadline Rule.** We’re all victims of the sunk-cost fallacy (we can't accept our items lost value). When trying to sell something, I give myself 30 days to do whatever I can, gradually lowering the price. If after 30 days is still unsold, my time is worth more than the money, so on day 31 I donate it.

13. **Spontaneous Combustion Rule.** It starts with a simple question: If this item spontaneously combusted, would I feel relieved? If so, give yourself permission to get rid of it. It’s a question worth asking throughout all areas of our lives because it helps us better understand what’s adding value and what we should walk away from.

14. **Willing to Walk Rule.** Are you prepared to walk away from everything? “Allow nothing in your life that you cannot walk out on in 30 seconds flat”. Our preparedness to walk away is the ultimate form of caring. Being unattached to stuff makes our lives tremendously flexible. Our willingness to walk away strengthens our bond with others.

15. **Minimalist Gift Giving Rule.** Give experiences instead of objects or if you can't, it's preferable to give consumables, rather than unwanted widgets. Gift giving is adding value and seeking for a smile, don't feel obligated to give.

16. **Minimalist Gift Getting Rule.** If you want to get better gifts, you must ask for better gifts. Guide people to the correct gifts you want instead of saying "no" to gifts.

## How to use these rules
Adapt them to your level, make them be slightly uncomfortable to train those let-go muscles. Feel free to experiment.