Living with Less: How to Downsize to 100 Personal Possessions

by Mary Lambert

A unique programme to help you reduce your personal possessions to 100 items. Many people think that the more they own, the more contented and happy they will be - their lives become defined by their possessions. In fact, the opposite is often true: the more we have, the less happy and contented we are in mind, body and spirit. In Living with Less, decluttering expert Mary Lambert sets you the challenge of reducing your personal possessions to just 100 items. In Part 1 Mary describes how keeping too many possessions affects you - clutter can stop you moving forward in life and learning how to release some of your possessions can be liberating and fulfilling. In Part 2, you begin the 100-item challenge, starting with an inventory of your personal possessions. Then you begin the easy-to-follow goalsetting programme to start the process of clearing out your items: broken down into manageable categories, you address each area of your possessions at a time, from clothes to jewellery to hobby items. Mary does of course practise what she preaches: you can follow her own 100-item challenge throughout the book. And, once you've addressed your personal items, you may want to tackle the rest of your household goods.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, How To

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim at work because I'm embracing minimalism...or at least, getting rid of things. I'm not sure that reducing to 100 personal items is really how I want to do that, though, and I'm not convinced that minimalism in your personal effects = minimalism overall, since the plan doesn't force you to reduce furniture, art, kitchen things, etc (although it encourages you to ponder what you do own). 100 items also feels like an arbitrary goal (although I suppose the author says you can be flexible with the number you end up at); should I really purge the shoes I only wear three times a year, if those three times are important and call for shoes like these? I don't want to re-buy every time I have an occasion to need something that usually seems neglected. I get the point: get rid of things you don't use. Since I'm not a clothing-hoarder, though, I'd prefer a softer approach to some things.

What made me especially meh about this book were the overarching assumptions about gender, lifestyle, and habits. Women all have too many shoes! Men love gadgets! Women buy things to feel better! Men don't! Women wear too much black! And need to mix up their shoe choices more! Black makes you depressed!

Besides that, every example laid out a basic formula for items women should own: the same types of clothes (mostly work, some workout), makeup, and sports or musical gear. Everything else is clutter.

And finally, even when the book made sense to me, I kept being irritated by liberal use of words like "cherished," "treasured," and "beloved."

So anyway, I'll continue my purging, but I'll do it on my own.

[Lorna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear. I should have paid attention to the other reviews. I was just so fascinated by the idea of reducing my possessions to a certain number - in this case 100 items.
From early on in the book I was confused. Why do a toothbrush or nail scissors count as one item but dvds, stationary and books are excluded? Later, when she achieves her 100 items, she counts 10 handbags as a single item; 3 watches as a single item and no less than 13 pairs of sandals count as a single item.
Many of questionnaires are outdated now. Can you go without your MP3 player?
In one questionnaire she asks if you would be upset if your beloved black trousers were in the wash. This is, apparently, a sign that you are too attached to your possessions. Personally, this does happen to me, and it is because I own very few clothes and quickly come to the end of my wardrobe if I don't wash them weekly.
Really this book is not really about minimalism or intentional simplicity, it's a book about reclassification.
The two stars are for the charming drawings - which I wish there were more of and for the useful two pages at the end explaining how to pass on your excess possessions in the UK, by selling online, by auction, at car boot sales, a list of charity shops and Freecycle.
I highly recommend Marie Kondo for a beginner's guide to minimalism and Fumio Sasaki's "Goodbye Things" for someone looking to possess only a few material items.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I saw this title and was excited to see how a “real” person could institute Larry’s theory on personal possessions. (In The Gospel According to Larry - Teen Fiction - Larry limited himself to 75 total items.) Major disappointment! Lambert excludes from the list: books, dvds, cds, china, glasses, household furnishings and much, much more. Her “total 100 items” list includes entries such as “T-shirts x 13” or “Handbags (purses) x 10.” Moral to this story: Clean your clutter, but make any list that makes your feel better about it.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so hoping for more from this book, but it's a glossy cliff notes clutter guide that really doesn't do anything a magazine article couldn't for you in less time.

but now i know they do garage sales in England out of their car trunks, or boots, which i admit i find... bizarre and fascinating at the same time. huh.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I'm working to refocus my life and look toward minimalism. I was looking for something that would help encourage as well as provide some tips. However I think I should have paid closer attention to the subtitle: how to downsize to 100 personal possessions. I was only looking at the "100 possessions" (a goal of mine) and not the "personal". This book is focused on clothes, personal gadgets, and cosmetics. She doesn't address home clutter as much, which is what I need help with. Moreover she tells you to ignore books and CDs from the 100 possession limit, which isn't true minimalism, though it still provides great advice for decluttering.

Overall, if you're already tending minimalist and living in a small apartment (like me) this is not the book for you. On the other hand, if you have a big home filled with lots of unworn clothes and never used purses (not like me), this is the book for you.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too basic for me. Clean out your stuff? Sort, throw away or sell? Uh, yeah. Also, all of the photos and illustrations seemed too random and stock photo. I much preferred "100 thing challenge". It's interesting to think about, but I think a limit of 100 items for me is not gonna happen. :)

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept, I guess, but written for people who have the enviable problem of too much disposable income, but not enough space. 2*

[Dylan · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone already living a minimalist lifestyle, I picked up this book on a whim to see the author's definition of "personal possessions" and method. I made it thirty pages, set down the book, and, well, loudly expressed my discontent to my friends. This is not a book on minimalism. It ignores most of the possessions people own and hoard (books, DVDs, CDs, kitchen items, furniture, etc.) and instead focuses only on clothes, personal electronics, and toiletries. Then it has the audacity to say that you can count multiple items as one (ie. all of your underwear is one item, all of your shoes are one item). The assumptions about gender and class run rampant. And it encourages replacing items the reader has owned for years with updated models to more correctly reflect the reader's current self. Admirable in theory, but consumerist in practice. There are many good books on minimalism. This is not one of them.

[Anne White]

Generally I like decluttering guides. Agree with other reviews that this one, while well-intentioned, was fairly useless.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

When a book claims to tell you how to downsize to 100 personal possessions but then tells you that categories of things count and therefore you can have a list like the author with line items such as "handbags x 10", "evening bags x 4", "dresses x 7", "vest T-shirts x 13", and "boots x 7", to the point that the author's list of "100 personal possessions" really has more than 200 on it (yes, I counted), you know the whole thing is a fraud. Keep looking for a better book about minimalism/downsizing.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first (few pages) I really enjoyed the book. I liked that there were pictures, charts and lists which I found more helpful then the books that are all text. However, after reading the books it is VERY repetitive and does not explain the reason people are attached to items.
I would not recommend.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting concept, but the whole thing broke down a little bit when she said we could consider “categories” of items as a single item. Like “books” would be one item. I probably have nearly 100 books already!

[Helen Geng · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK, the downsizing to 100 items is good, but this bk is repetitive & half-baked. It doesn't really dig into why people acquire & how people should declutter.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not only is the book not very innovative, the author pigeonholes by gender, with three pages of the "differences between how men and women declutter." Reading this, apparently I'm a man....

[Aubrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

At one point I thought to myself that maybe I have read all that needs to be read on the decluttering/minimalist matter. Every book seemed to say the same thing, but when I came across the title of this book at the library, I thought that limiting yourself to 100 possessions seemed like something new and I picked it up. Holy hell, do NOT make the same mistake I did! This book is full of blatant and unnecessary sexism as well as false marketing.

Mary Lambert seems to believe that all women have more clothes than gadgets as opposed to men, that men aren't as frivolous with their spending, and that women will always own more stuff than men. This is incredibly insulting and is basically bogus. I know men who own more clothes than gadgets, women who own more gadgets than hair products, women who don't own a single skirt, and men who own a few. Decluttering is NOT a woman vs man or man vs woman sort of thing. Clutter is clutter regardless of who owns what, and gender-coding it is more damaging than helpful. Lambert also goes through a week of what women (only. No men mentioned) wear to their jobs, making incredibly offensive remarks like how wearing black is depressing, or that for someone who may only have one pair of shoes to wear more (wait, isn't this a book about less? Why is she telling someone to get another pair?). Black isn't depressing, and if your goal is minimizing the amount of clothes you have, having a bunch of outrageous patterns and colors can be difficult to match with other items.

As for the comment about the shoes, this book talks about downsizing to 100 items, but Lambert doesn't actually mean this at all. Shoes, for example, no matter how many you have, only count as ONE. This is extremely counterproductive. From the ones that say, "Only count as one? That means I can buy more!" to the ones that say, "They all count as one? Then what am I supposed to get rid of?" It isn't just shoes. Apparently stuff like furniture or appliances and more don't even count at all. As someone who is has been trying to empty my craft drawers and bookshelves so I can have more space, I find it incredibly odd that things that do take up wanted space is not even looked at as a hinderance.

You want my advice? Don't go anywhere near this book. Save yourself the trouble and find something else. Many people have better luck with Marie Kondo's Life-changing Magic, or Francine Jay's Joy of Less. Of everything I read about decluttering, I can honestly say those books do a much better job than this ever could.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot of books encouraging minimalism, and this isn’t one I’d recommend. The “get rid of a bunch of things” message is fine. The recommendations of where to sell or date is fine. These are all pretty standard messages if you’ve read anything on decluttering though.

100 items is kind of misleading, because the author admits that 10 purses can count as one, or 5 pairs of shoes. She also allows you one category to completely ignore. (She chose jewelry.)

One thing I did like about this book was the author forces you to focus on just the items that you alone use. Your clothes, personal care items, and hobbies. I think we’re all a little too guilty of seeing kid clutter or spouse clutter, and don’t see our own.

That being said, she makes a lot of weird gender assumptions. And the section on clothes makes recommendations for the sampled women to wear more color or wear a bigger variety of shoes, when honestly, the woman has a favorite that she wears, why not wear what you love and get rid of the rest? I found those pages to be super strange!

Meant to be a workbook that you read over the course of a year while you downsize to “100 personal possessions”, I suggest that if you do read this book, to skim it for anything helpful and quickly declutter this book from your house!

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new in this book. Although the version I did read was aesthetically pleasing. Lovely layout with checklists and questionaires. I think it would be helpful for someone just starting out. But if you have already done quite alot of minimising probably not for you. As others have said it isn't really about 100 things when the author includes ALL items within a category as 1 item of 100 things. Bit if a cop out lol. Would recommend Dave Bruno's book the 100 things challenge. Who actually did limit his personal items to 100.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book provides a basic guide to removing clutter (physical items) from your life.

I found this book a bit simplistic and it wasn’t for me (I don’t have a laptop / car / TV / etc.). I thought it was odd the way that multiple items could count as one (i.e. sandals x 13 = 1 item). Some of the information on where to sell / donate items could be useful.

[sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do not bother with this one: it's redundant, uninspiring, and chock full of gross generalizations based on gender. No one clued the author in on the fact that many girls DO like gadgets just as much as the guys, and not every woman exists to amass an Imelda-Marcos-sized shoe collection. Puhleez.

[Yura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the items are not applicable to me maybe because the book is from a few years back. I do want to try making an inventory of my personal belongings to see the volume of the things I own but I’ll stick to Marie Kondo’s methods.

[Helen Pugsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ann Miner collection. Life is too short for bad books.

Ann was hit by a car in Cheyenne, one evening. Her murder [although accidental] is a cold case. The first thing she said to me when we met was "Life is too short for bad books." And it was.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

No real helpful advice for me in here. Redundant. Also used a lot of gender based stereotypes , which turned me off.

[Sarah Vandekendelaere · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not for my phase of decluttering right now, but it seems to give some tight guidance for people who are less far along. There are handy lists and she goes over room by room.

[Alyce Hunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very simplistic advice. The pages introducing each room in the house are completely unnecessary - I know you're meant to use a kitchen for cooking and a bedroom for sleeping.
If you want to read a book of someone stating the obvious, go ahead and give this one a try.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been really into the idea of minimalism lately and been wanting to read about what others have to say on the subject after reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. This however is not the book that I hoped it would be.

The sub-heading of "how to downsize to 100 personal possessions" is what pulled me in because I thought that it would be a good exercise to try to limit the number of possessions I own instead of simply decluttering. While there are many issues with this book there are a few that stand out to me. She makes a lot of generalizations about men and women and how they tend to have different things that they hold on to. While I agree that it's true that most men have far fewer beauty products, I disagree that they have fewer clothes or are more likely to hoard electronics. I hate when books tend to reinforce gender stereotypes without questioning them.

Perhaps my biggest problem with the book is that she says that you can group things together as one item if that helps you stick to the challenge. In theory this makes sense, but if anyone is reading this and wants to downsize to 100 possessions then they are probably looking for a challenge. This isn't for someone who owns 50+ pairs of shoes or 20+ bags. But even if I am willing to accept that we all have one category in which we are unwilling to part with our possessions and we should count those as one item, there is more than one thing Lambert counts as one item. In her final list she gets down to 100 items which is her intention, but she counts fourteen bags as two items. This is her "cheat" area so I'm willing to give her that one. But then she counts thirteen pairs of sandals as one item, ten cardigans as one item, and nine dresses as one. In total she ends up with 240+ items when she started with 305. I could easily count my personal possessions they way that she does and be under 100.

Finally she asks her friends to keep a journal of what they wear in a typical week, in theory to see how much they repeat items of clothing. What I assumed she would say was for one person who wore the same pair of boots 4 out of 5 days was to downsize her boot collection of 10+ boots because she's not wearing them. Instead she tells her to wear her other boots more or get rid of them and then tells her to not wear so much black because black makes you depressed. I'm pretty sure you should wear whatever you feel good in, even if that's all black.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, and with simple steps to follow, Living with Less is a basic guide to downsizing your personal possessions and decluttering your home and life.

[Cadie Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the format of this book. it was engaging and enjoyable. I picked up this book not because I wanted to only own 100 items but because I am trying to change my mindset. I didn't like how many rules there were and how many of those rules were flexible. however, it was a quick read and had some good ideas.

[Brigid Keely · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Living with Less: How to Downsize to 100 Personal Possessions" by Mary Lambert, is a glossy, richly-illustrated book with widely spaced text that is a thinly written basic instruction to downsizing to the arbitrary number of 100 possessions.

The large type, wide spacing, and somewhat random illustrations make this book a fast read. There is not much new in this book (stop buying new stuff! Get rid of your extra stuff!) other than the goal of "only 100 things," but Lambert creates a lot of exceptions for that goal. For instance, kitchen stuff and furniture "doesn't count" and groups of things count as one thing (ex: 10 purses count as "purse," 13 t-shirts count as "shirt"). It would make more sense if the book treated 100 things as more of an inspiration or goal than an actual thing.

Lambert really is writing for an audience that impulse shops and has a large amount of expendable income to do so, and can solve their "too much stuff" problem by just buying less... which is not an issue I have. She gets preachy about "consumer culture" in an irritating way.

I read 4 decluttering/organizing books right after each other. 3 of them were Jesus books. This one was a Feng Shui (and Reiki) book.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book clearly had big aspirations and, sadly, feel very short. In an attempt to make the book's mission accessible, the directions for living with less and downsizing to just 100 personal possessions takes some major short cuts that undermine the whole spirit of the text. Lambert advises pairing like items--all of your shoes, all of your nail polishes, etc--and not counting shared items or décor--pictures on the wall, lamps, end tables, plates, pots and pans, Tupperware. This renders the advice within ineffective. On top of that, the personal narrative within, as copied from Mary's blog, are few and far between, simply acting as filler rather than bringing a supportive voice that makes this all seem possible. The examples used are stale and repetitive, as are the mini quizzes and the how-to steps. For each category of belongings, Mary could have saved herself a lot of work and simply put an asterisk that says **see previous page, as it's all the same: get two trash bags/boxes/piles, label one trash, one charity, and one keep, divide stuff accordingly.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim at the library because I do love books on organizing. I think the idea was good, but it wasn't enough to fill the book. I felt like there was a good deal of repetiton and I also felt like she "cheated" on her 100 items. She listed 305 items in her initial inventory and only included multiples counting as one item for things like socks, bathing suits, and underwear. In her final inventory, she took 103 items (just that I counted) and turned them into NINE items by listing them as "item x number of that item". I think that is rather misleading. I'm all for decluttering and not using retail therapy to make you happy, but let's consistent in our accounting.