COULD you pare down your possessions to 100 essential items? An internet-born philosophy called the 100 Thing Challenge, which encourages a simpler, clutter-free lifestyle, has become so fashionable in California that it has caught the imagination of Hollywood stars not best known for frugality.

David Bruno, a university computer executive who devised the challenge as a response to the recession and his own unease about the unwanted junk filling his San Diego home, started off last year with nearly 400 personal items.

Last week he was down to 92, although the sale of his point-and-shoot camera on Craigslist, the online advertiser, displeased his wife Leanne.

“I was the only person in the house to use it, but she was upset because I’d been taking pictures of our three daughters. And, yes, I loved that camera too, but I had to ask myself did I need it and the answer was no. That is what the challenge is all about.”

Bruno, 37, also discarded older computers, woodwork tools, hiking boots, an exercise bike, a yoga mat, a much-loved J Crew jacket that he now misses, nasal hair trimmers, which he does not miss at all because they represented “self-inflicted torture”, and a pewter statue of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings that anyone could see was superfluous.

He admits that there are some things he will not part with, such as a Hogsmeade is For Lovers T-shirt – a reference to a village inhabited by magical beings in the Harry Potter novels. His eldest daughter Lucy is a fan.

His other 91 possessions include three Bibles, one containing a prayer book and another used by his father in Vietnam, his wedding ring – “Thirteen years and going strong” – a ballpoint pen from his sister, his wallet, a tent and backpack, a 16-year-old Mazda car given to him by his father, a razor, a toothbrush and a rock-climbing wall that he has decided to get rid of.

He does not count “community property” such as furniture he shares with Leanne, Lucy, Phoebe and Bridget. Books merge into a single “library” and underwear is counted as a collective noun – “I’m trying to resist consumerism, not hygiene” he said.

Visitors to his website complain it is easier for men than women to shrink the list. “Women need business suits; they are judged on their appearances whereas guys can wear the same shabby crap every day,” complained one.

All agreed that women’s shoes should come under the collective noun rule, but there are disputes about jewellery and handbags.

The debate has spread across the internet at a speed that amazes Bruno. “It started out as personal, I’m not asking my wife or anyone else to join me, but I appear to have tapped into something that people want to talk about,” he said. He has just signed a deal for a book version of the 100 Thing Challenge to appear next year.

It all reflects a recent Gallup poll that said 32% of Americans had been spending less in recent months.

New gadgets have helped: an iPod or MP3 player can hold a vast music library, a Kindle or its rival ebook readers can hold thousands of titles. Photo albums are copied onto a single computer disk, mobile phones have made wristwatches superfluous.

Some strong-minded personalities have always set their own limits. Leonardo DiCaprio, the actor and environmental campaigner, has become the latest convert to smaller cars and owns a relatively modest home in the Hollywood Hills. He has told friends he may stick at about 150 personal objects, including comic books illustrated by his father.

Other wealthy Hollywood stars, such as Reese Witherspoon and DiCaprio’s friend Tobey Maguire, say that children have complicated their desire to declutter.

The Spider-Man actor “is fighting a battle against the stuff which materialises in the house. He does not want it or need it unless it’s related to basketball”, said a friend last week. “That is like his sweet tooth, and we all have that.”

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