How many plates do you need? How many pots? How many socks? How much make-up? How much back-up stock do you need? I don’t know. Only you can decide what is reasonable and what you are comfortable with.
There are various determining factors:
Do you entertain regularly? This may influence whether you need a basic dish set of 4 or maybe 8 or 12 would be used in your household.
How many types of glasses or silverware do you actually use? Maybe you don’t like cognac so keeping that set of glasses specific to that liqueur wouldn’t make sense for you. If you have a regular guest or loved one that does enjoy that bevy at yours then keep 1 or 2 glasses just for them.
Do you wear make-up or do you just keep it because you feel as a grown-up you should? Do you only wear the same make-up or do you experiment and try new looks? This will help you work out what is to be kept.
We all use toilet paper regularly. A certain amount of stock is a must. But should that be a Costco haul of stock or maybe one extra package from a store that sells non-bulk sizes? This goes for personal care items and food too.
Do you have so much stock of food in your pantry that it will likely or already has expired before it will be eaten? More is not necessarily better. Invite the guilt of waste and ‘I should use that (but I won’t)’ out the door. Do it and move on.
It’s helpful to decide on a magic number to help you sift your supplies. If the number is 6 for example, that is your general guide. To simplify your process, adopt 6 as the go to amount and then adjust. Keeping six plates doesn’t mean you have to keep the complete 6 place settings. Keep what you use and love.
If you are deciding on nail varnish or lipstick this is also a helpful bar (provided it’s not pivotal to your livelihood). But if you are considering vacuums or extra duvets then 6 may be too many. Adjust and adapt.
Share some of your magic numbers – we can all learn something.
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