Goal: By November 12, 2008 I will only have 100 personal things. I will live with only 100 personal things for one full year, until November 12, 2009.

Rules: Remember, this is my 100 Thing Challenge. I get to set the rules and decide when a rule can be stretched or outright broken. Basically I'm going by the spirit of the challenge not the letter of the challenge.

1. "Personal Things" means things that are entirely or mostly mine. Clearly family-shared and household things (e.g. dining room table, piano, bed, plates, etc.) are not considered a personal thing. Right now my wife and daughters are curious about what I'm up to, but they prefer to observe rather than participate.


2. Memorabilia - I was going to keep a small box of memorabilia. But it turned out that I don't have much. So I'm ditching this idea and just counting a few things.


3. Books - Ah, here's the rub. We're avid readers in our home. And even the books I don't read thrice a year look so very attractive as they collect dust on the bookshelves. And many of my books are kind of work related. Strange as it sounds, I have a lot of history books that relate directly or indirectly to consumerism, and thus help me with the 100 Thing Challenge.


4. A few items are counted in groups. This includes underwear and socks. I'm not keeping a lot of either. We do, though, run a household. The idea of trying to manage laundry with a few pairs of skivvies and socks is both unrealistic and gross.


5. We are keeping some household tools: hammer, screwdriver, tape measure, etc. Just last week I needed some tools to put up my daughter's gymnastics bar. I'm not using them for anything more than honey-do projects.


6. I've left myself some cushion in case I receive a gift or two over the next year. But hopefully everyone who might give me a gift knows that they shouldn't! Anyway, once I receive a gift, I have 7 days to figure out what to do with it before it counts toward my 100 Thing Challenge. I figure that should be enough time to either graciously lose it or get rid of some other thing.


7. Finally, I can get new things. But I have to always remain under 100 things total. And also if I am "replacing" something, I have to get rid of the original thing first before I get the new thing.

REVISED LIST November 12, 2008

1. NRSV Bible with Prayer Book
2. ESV Bible (easier to carry around)
3. Library (my one big exception - books!)
4. Journal
5. Mechanical pencil
6. Ballpoint pen
7. Wallet
8. Sunglasses
9. Watch
10. iMac
11. Printer
12. Cell phone
13. Headphones
14. External hard drive
15. Camera
16. SD card for camera
17. Backpack
18. Tent
19. Sleeping pad
20. Stove
21. Cook set (2 pots, 1 lid, 1 handle)
22. Spork
23. Headlamp
24. Knife
25. Climbing wall
26. Climbing shoes
27. Chalk bag
28. Mittens
29. Wool hat
30. Rain jacket
31. Rain pants
32. Thermal shirt
33. Thermal pants
34. Garment bag
35. Suitcase
36. Travel/work backpack
37. Home office desk
38. Desk lamp
39. Home office chair
40. File cabinet
41. Car
42. Planet Earth DVD
43. Toothbrush
44. Razor
45. T-shirt
46. T-shirt
47. T-shirt
48. T-shirt
49. T-shirt
50. T-shirt
51. T-shirt
52. Wicking shirt
53. Running shorts
54. Running shorts
55. Board shorts
56. Shorts
57. PJ pants
58. Undershirts (6) - replaced 12/25/08
59. Underwear (12) - replaced 12/25/08
60. Suit jacket
61. Suit pants
62. Dress pants
63. Jeans
64. Jeans
65. Tie
66. Dress shirt
67. Dress shirt
68. Button-down shirt
69. Button-down shirt
70. Button-down shirt
71. Button-down shirt
72. Button-down shirt
73. Button-down shirt
74. Button-down shirt
75. Button-down shirt
76. Button-down shirt
77. Brown belt
78. Canvas dresser
79. Socks (?)
80. Brown shoes
81. Running shoes (replaced - old ones went to Goodwill)
82. Flip flops
83. hand-me-down Bible
84. Wedding ring! (forgot that until yesterday)
85. Moo.com business cards (for guynameddave.com - probably a "business" thing and not a "personal" thing, but they are *so* cool that I feel guilty not counting them)
86. Sweater
87. Warm casual jacket
88. Wicking shirt
89. Business causal pants
90. Fleece jacket
91. Button-down shirt
92. Water bladder
93. Laptop

Gone. There has been lots, lots more than this that I've gotten rid of. These are the things I kept track of. But there are a lot more clothes and random items that are no longer in my possession.

1. Balance board
2. Yoga mat
3. Backpack
4. Self-portrait oil painting
5. Small Longaberger basket
6. Campagnolo Croce d'Aune rear derailer
7. Pens
8. Shoot horn
9. Knife
10. Knife
11. Broken Sigma flash for Canon (easy fix for gadget person)
12. Baseball hat
13. Sweat pants
14. Crocs
15. Green wool sweater
16. Dress pants cords
17. Dress pants black
18. Dress pants brown
19. Jeans
20. Sport jacket
21. Mountain Hardware Synchro Jacket
22. Old J Crew jacket that I love but need to let go
23. Compass
24. Rock climbing shoes
25. Chalk bag
26. Magnesium fire starter stick
27. USB headset with microphone
28. HDD portable
29. Pewter Gollum
30. Pewter Beorn
31. Pewter Hobbit
32. Harry Potter figurine - want to give it to someone at Portus
33. Bike trainer - the kind that holds the rear wheel while you peddle furiously in the kitchen, freaking the dog out and bothering the family with all the noise
34. Backpacker magazine
35. NEED magazine (just stopped coming)
36. MacBook G4
37. Canon 30D
38. Canon 17-40L lens
39. Canon 430 flash
40. Diffuser
41. Tripod with ball head
42. Camera bag - includes some lens tissue and duster
43. Rope - Gave it to my daughter who is enjoying it and using it
44. Camelback bottle - MISSING - I might replace this.
45. Sun hat
46. Nose hair trimmers - whatever. This gadget was more like a torture device. I'm just going to borrow the tiny scissors we have in the bathroom drawer from now on.
47. Marklin train collection
48. Woodworking tools - Very sad about this.
49. Side table drawer - My wife insisted on keeping this as "her" item, but I'm not going to use it.
50. Hiking boots
51. Bicycling bib shorts
52. Award-winning self-portrait oil painting
53. Button-down shirt
54. Brown sweatshirt
55. Button-down shirt
56. Black belt
57. Black shoes
58. Business casual pants
59. T-shirt
60. T-shirt
61. T-shirt
62. Sport coat
63. Sport coat
64. Sleeping bag
65. Sleeping pad
66. Need Magazine subscription