The conventional view is that New Yorkers are obsessed with accumulation—money, status, possessions. But that gets it only half-right. For every buyer, after all, there has to be a seller. The city is a vast marketplace, and that presents opportunities not only to free up space in your closets and your mind but to remake yourself in the process. So here’s how to get rid of life’s trappings: your stuff, your art, your computer files, your apartment, your friends, even your own identity.

1 ... How to Disappear
You can leave your spouse, sell the townhouse, and pack the kids off to Andover. But the truly radical move is to give up your identity.

2 ... How to End Friendships
Three effective—and compassionate—ways to break up with a friend.

3 ... Who’s Buying
The best places to bring your cast-offs of every kind.

4 ... A Stoop Sale, Step by Step
10 Steps to a Stoop Sale

5 ... How to Dump Your Data
Deleting computer data.

6 ... Going, Going, Gone
Answering an age-old question: Sotheby’s or Christie’s?

7 ... How to Get an Extra 30% on Your Apartment
Giving your pad a face-lift can freshen up its value, too. Veteran Corcoran “stager” Deanna Kory tells how.

8 ... Ask The Expert
Eido T. Shimano Roshi, 72, abbot of New York Zendo Shobo-Ji and Zen master

9 ... The Perfect Blend
Would you rather liquefy than liquidate? The Vita-Mix 5000 blender goes 240 mph, melting down fruit and vegetables in 60 seconds— and kneads bread dough, too ($399–$479; vitamix.com or 800-848-2649).

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MATT GROSS, WILL DOIG, RIMA SUQI, AND MARION MANEKER.

Related:

• Archive: “The Everything Guide”
• Articles by Sarah Bernard
• Table of Contents: Oct 18, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!