# Anyone tried the minimalist lifestyle?



## Spork (Jan 4, 2014)

I'm not a hoarder. My Wife and I are still in our first house. I've been quite good about getting rid of things when I don't need them anymore or so I thought. Like video games or what not after I've played them. Its still amazing how much stuff I have accumulated. In my parents house you can barely walk through the basement. My parents can be sentimental about things but I wouldn't call them hoarders and messes like that result from not getting rid of anything. So many people think of their basement as a bottomless pit where you can keep sending everything you don't want to get rid of and have it out of sight. 

I've wanted to clean house for quite a while and have started going through a few totes per week. We have about 2 dozen totes, clothes in bags, and other various boxes. The clothing items were probably the easiest thing to sort through. Some I've had since high school. I dropped the usable stuff at a charity. I did have a few totes of video game stuff that is going on ebay. I'm also getting rid of my baseball cards. I don't even really like baseball and the cards are nearly worthless. I'm going to check some values but will probably sell everything for whatever I can get. 

I look at things differently now on whats important to keep. However some minimalists are just silly. Some go for 100 items which might make sense if you really need the mobility but others might even suggest not to have any artwork or portraits on your walls. While I'm not going that far I'm vastly reducing what I own and don't use. Books and music are digital only purchases for me now unless its a reference book or something else nice to have on paper. Its incredible how a huge library can fit on a kindle. I still buy physical copies of movies but in extreme moderation. 

I am quite excited by this project. While I have no intentions of moving anywhere soon its good to know I have less things to deal with should I ever have or want to. Photos are probably the most important things to keep and thankfully those can go digital now too. I've found the tiny house videos on youtube to be quite intriguing as well. However most of them are either single or don't have kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDc...ew-vl&list=PLMRx8kgwkvhKUiW-UraPBN2rlmkyH1_fC


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## buds224 (Jan 4, 2014)

I've read somewhere about the "6 month box" and have yet to start utilizing it. You take a box, put questionable items into it, if not used or needed or even thought of at the end of 6 months, everything in the box goes out. I was thinking of having x4 6month boxes setup so I can get rid of things every 3 months. Now to actually implement it. LOL.


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## RetroTechie (Jan 4, 2014)

Many years ago, I saw an Acer magazine advert showing a room with just 2 items: an Acer laptop, and a bathtub. 'Everything you'd ever need' (well that and a towel  ). That's _sort of_ been my ideal ever since (if anyone has a link I'd be grateful).

Of course practice is very different. 

Not really a hoarder but not that far from it either. I've long passed the stage where I'm emotionally attached to many items, so that's progress. But somehow it's still much easier to obtain more junk than get rid of it.



buds224 said:


> I've read somewhere about the "6 month box" and have yet to start utilizing it. You take a box, put questionable items into it, if not used or needed or even thought of at the end of 6 months, everything in the box goes out. I was thinking of having x4 6month boxes setup so I can get rid of things every 3 months. Now to actually implement it. LOL.


Simple and good method. In your mind, mark all your stuff as "unused". Decide on a simple way to keep track of what you used again since you begin. Whatever is still unused after an arbitrary period (6 months? 1 year?) is most likely okay to get rid off. Rinse & repeat until everything you own is in regular use.

You'll find there _are_ exceptions (stuff you haven't used in a long time but still want to hang on to), but as a rule the above is a good method to sort things. If you've had it for years but never used it (for *whatever* reasons), what are the chances you will use it in the future? Most likely nil. Which means it's just baggage that costs you time, space and/or money, zaps your energy and slows you down. :tired:

Btw: sorry to note that a flashlight collection is _NOT_ an exception to this rule... :devil:


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## Cyclops942 (Jan 5, 2014)

RetroTechie said:


> You'll find there _are_ exceptions (stuff you haven't used in a long time but still want to hang on to), but as a rule the above is a good method to sort things. If you've had it for years but never used it (for *whatever* reasons), what are the chances you will use it in the future? Most likely nil. Which means it's just baggage that costs you time, space and/or money, zaps your energy and slows you down. :tired:
> 
> Btw: sorry to note that a flashlight collection is _NOT_ an exception to this rule... :devil:



GASP!!!!! Blasphemer! 



That's it! You need to hand in your flashaholic's card, right now!


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## mcnair55 (Jan 5, 2014)

Like most i keep things that will come in handy but never do,when i lived in Berlin my partners daughter moved apartments to be nearer her job bang in the middle of the City and she adopted a minimalistic lifestyle and to be fair her new apartment looked good,best way to get rid of stuff over there is you put the stuff outside with a big sign gratis and people take it all away for you,i was passing a house one day and there was a brand new pair of going out boots(not work),checked the size and perfect and they were a decent german make as well plus he had free ski,s and i sold them on the bay for 90 euros.


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## Spork (Jan 5, 2014)

RetroTechie said:


> Simple and good method. In your mind, mark all your stuff as "unused". Decide on a simple way to keep track of what you used again since you begin. Whatever is still unused after an arbitrary period (6 months? 1 year?) is most likely okay to get rid off. Rinse & repeat until everything you own is in regular use.
> 
> You'll find there _are_ exceptions (stuff you haven't used in a long time but still want to hang on to), but as a rule the above is a good method to sort things. If you've had it for years but never used it (for *whatever* reasons), what are the chances you will use it in the future? Most likely nil. Which means it's just baggage that costs you time, space and/or money, zaps your energy and slows you down. :tired:
> 
> Btw: sorry to note that a flashlight collection is _NOT_ an exception to this rule... :devil:



I have a few totes with puzzles and board games. Some of them are unopened. A few I'm getting rid of but something like this is worth hanging on to even though I may not use them for a long time. Where as some of the video games that I still owned for which I did not even have a working console I feel confident about getting rid of. I have a fairly small selection of flashlights. Except for a box of mostly useless lights I have received as Christmas presents which are being donated as well there are 4 main lights that I use. I might add a few pak-lites for backup. We also have our champagne glasses and a few other small things from our wedding packed away. Those things I know I should keep and only get rid of should I ever really have to. 

I'm selling what I can on ebay. Ebay rips you off with seller fee's but I'm making some money and reclaiming some space in the process. Here is another article that makes good sense to me.

http://www.missminimalist.com/2012/11/storage-is-not-a-solution/


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## NonSenCe (Jan 5, 2014)

no. im a hoarder. 

but, that said, i am tring to "get better" a bit. actually threw away stuff this year!

i went thru a storage space i have not opened a door into since 2003 or so.. according the dates of the newest and on top of the pile stuff there was (magazines and bills etc). and ended up taking 20 150liter trashbags of paper stuff to recyclers. 15 general trash. 4 bags of old clothes to charity. trailer full of broken or old electronics (typewriters, computers, tvs, videos, radios). and separated 4 bags of things and clothes i can sell when i have the time. then piled the rest of the stuff back in and the storage seems to be full again. (guess all the years of playing tetris has had bad influence, made me able to previously fill every nook and cranny of the place with stuff without leaving any space in between.) but this time beeing "full" only means that the shelves are full and part of the floor. and i can almost see every item there.. previously it was top to bottom full and the door needed to be leaned on to close it.

in normal daily use i dont use that many things. and i dont need need that many things. but i want them rest to be there, if i ever need one. hah. especially the ones that actually have some perceivable value of somekind. (monetary, or memorylane)

but because i hate the silly hoarder side of me. i have also made an mental map of the real important things and objects i want to hang on to in case i need to pick the important stuff out and throw the rest away. 

and while i did the major clean up there now.. i know or knew what i have/had there. i can search for them now when i need it because i know i have seen it lately. and i know next summer i will go thru them again and get rid of more stuff.. basically give them year to rot and then re-think their usability and need. so i am on my way to more streamlined existance.. slowly but its a start.


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## thedoc007 (Jan 5, 2014)

NonSenCe said:


> ...slowly but its a start.



Indeed, starting is the hardest part. Keep at it!

I'm definitely not a hoarder...I live in a one-bedroom apartment, and there is TONS of extra space to store stuff. While I don't methodically go through everything, anytime I open a box, I do look through and see if there is anything I don't use/want. I have moved a couple times, and that helped me unburden more than anything...if you have to transport it, that is definitely a good motivator to get rid of it. 

If you need more motivation, just think of all the good you can do for other people by getting rid of unnecessary stuff. Donate books to your local library, donate clothes to Goodwill or similar, even sell off collectibles you don't want and donate the proceeds to a charity. And if you have children, they will thank you too. I know someone who had a hoarder dad, and he literally spent two YEARS of his life (every weekend) sorting through his father's belongings after he died (there were valuables and bank info, etc., so he didn't want to throw anything away until he went through it. Don't make your kids do that...


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## jtr1962 (Jan 5, 2014)

To me trying to intentionally keep your number of possessions down to the bare minimum is as much an encumbrance as having too many possessions. In both cases your life is ruled by things-either having them or always thinking about them. My philosophy is to not worry about my possessions unless it reaches the point that I can't find stuff because my things get too messy. I that stage I either reorganize my things, or (rarely) get rid of stuff I don't use. I might get rid of more except for the fact that I hate the idea of perfectly functional devices I no longer use ending up in landfill. It's a shame many things, especially electronics, become obsolete so quickly that they reach a point where you literally can't even give them away. CRT monitors are one of the best examples. Nobody wants those, even if they're perfectly functional.

I'm not sure I can agree with the idea of getting rid of stuff if you haven't used it in 6 months. There were lots of things I took from trash because they looked like they might be useful one day. In many cases they were, but often years after I acquired them.


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## Spork (Jan 6, 2014)

jtr1962 said:


> To me trying to intentionally keep your number of possessions down to the bare minimum is as much an encumbrance as having too many possessions.



I do agree with this and its a common criticism toward the minimalist crowd which is why I'm going for a compromise. Some of the far out people try to go without a car or tv. Going without a car would be a huge hassle unless you lived in a big city. I could certainly respect the idea of someone wanting to give up the tv but most of them just replace it with their computer for watching just so they can get excited about not having another item. If I were to ever have one of those tiny houses I would still have in wall speakers and a modest flat screen tv built in. 

People in general have more stuff than ever before though. Many don't have basements or live in small apartments and need to reduce out of necessity. A while back I was broken into. We weren't home and our pets were fine so we are thankful and thats when it clicked for me that we don't ever own anything. This got me away from the idea of ever wanting to collect anything. I've helped people move before that had a lot of stuff and it was a nightmare. Maybe 50% of the stuff was useless junk. Not even stuff that might be useful someday. It was great when some rotten chocolate milk that had been spilled in the fridge ended up on me. 

Where I live its now law to take old electronics to a recycling area. If you set a old monitor on the curb a garbage man won't touch it. A lot of things find a new home or are broken down into parts. 

thank you for all the responses. I enjoy reading the stories on how people live with or get rid of "stuff"


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## zold (Jan 6, 2014)

My wife and I have been trying to simplify, but keep it painless in the process. What we've been doing is hitting a different room about one day a week. We'll just go through it and toss/donate stuff that we don't need or want anymore the day before the trash truck comes around, to fill up the can. What is kind of amazing is that you can go through your bedroom or home office and think that you've really done a good job sweeping it clean. Then, two months later, you can go through the same room again and end up with another bag or two of stuff that you won't miss and don't need.


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## jtr1962 (Jan 6, 2014)

Spork said:


> I do agree with this and its a common criticism toward the minimalist crowd which is why I'm going for a compromise. Some of the far out people try to go without a car or tv. Going without a car would be a huge hassle unless you lived in a big city. I could certainly respect the idea of someone wanting to give up the tv but most of them just replace it with their computer for watching just so they can get excited about not having another item. If I were to ever have one of those tiny houses I would still have in wall speakers and a modest flat screen tv built in.


I don't get the concept of going without a TV only to watch TV on the much smaller screen of a PC, or even worse, a laptop or tablet. As for going without a car, that's not really far out or even minimalist. I've never owned a car, or even had a driver's license, and I don't feel lack of either has negatively impacted my quality of life. While it's true you probably can't get by without some kind of motorized transportation (not necessarily a car) in much of the US, in many cities you can. Moreover, planners are recognizing the growing trend of people who wish to go carless, and gradually redesigning things to make it easier to do so. I personally consider a car one of the worst things you can own because it's one of the few possessions which ends up owning you. Between the cost of insurance, worrying about parking, inspections, registration, needing a license to use it, and the ridiculous cost of fuel it's a possession which eats up a lot of your time either directly, or indirectly by forcing you to work more to pay for it. Indeed, some analyses show that once your time working to pay for a car is taken into account, the end result is that car travel averages only a few mph. Even not accounting for these things, typically car travel ends up averaging between 10 and 20 mph in many places. That speed is often matched, or even beaten, on a decent bicycle which costs under $1,000 to buy and very little to maintain.

Bottom line is that I hardly consider giving up a car part of a minimalist lifestyle. Indeed, I've been encouraging people I know whose money is tight to seriously consider giving up their cars. I tell them to analyze what you use the car for. See how much of that can be done other ways without too much extra inconvenience. That might include walking with a shopping cart to the local grocery store instead of driving to the much further away big box store, letting the kids walk or take public transit to school, biking errands too far to walk, etc. After that you're left with the trips where going by some mode other than car might be a major inconvenience. See how often you make such trips, and even whether or not they're really necessary. If such trips are made no more than a few times per month, seriously consider using ZipCar or something similar instead of owning your own vehicle. It's real money you'll be saving in the end, often with minimal lifestyle changes. Moreover, most people could do with a little more exercise. The added exercise may save money on doctor's bills down the road. 



> People in general have more stuff than ever before though. Many don't have basements or live in small apartments and need to reduce out of necessity. A while back I was broken into. We weren't home and our pets were fine so we are thankful and thats when it clicked for me that we don't ever own anything. This got me away from the idea of ever wanting to collect anything. I've helped people move before that had a lot of stuff and it was a nightmare. Maybe 50% of the stuff was useless junk. Not even stuff that might be useful someday. It was great when some rotten chocolate milk that had been spilled in the fridge ended up on me.


Um, yeah. I'm still stuck with my dad's baseball cards, figurines, and other assorted totally useless hobby stuff. Too much hassle to sell it now for the money I might get but still worth too much to just throw it in the trash. I'm hoping as different hobbies come and go eventually at least some of his hobby stuff will increase in popularity enough to make it worthwhile to sell it. In the end I can honestly say all the money he spent on hobbies didn't even give him much joy. That's the sad part. We all would have been better off if he had just put that money into a savings account. Unfortunately, advertisers are great at getting people to buy stuff which ends up as clutter only weeks later.


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## StarHalo (Jan 6, 2014)

1200 calories a day; unclutter the self and the rest will follow..


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## RI Chevy (Jan 6, 2014)

buds224 said:


> I've read somewhere about the "6 month box" and have yet to start utilizing it. You take a box, put questionable items into it, if not used or needed or even thought of at the end of 6 months, everything in the box goes out. I was thinking of having x4 6month boxes setup so I can get rid of things every 3 months. Now to actually implement it. LOL.



No good! We would have to get rid of more than half of our lights!


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## AZPops (Jan 6, 2014)

When you live in and like my boy Calvin and I do. We don't have a choice but to live on the minimalistic side of things.

Why is this you may ask? Because we live in a vehicle. It's sort of a large vehicle, but a vehicle none the less.


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## JohnR66 (Jan 7, 2014)

Materialism is a problem with a lot of people. To try to keep up their appearance, they spend excessively on things they don't really need. Too much house, too much car are the biggest issue. It has been shown that the "materialists" are often more depressed. If they are living beyond their means and not saving for the future, they can end up in financial trouble should there be a wrinkle in their life.

For me, I've been reducing the stuff I don't need. It is hard to sell things people don't want, so I take a lot of it to Goodwill. They have the knack to sell stuff like CRT TVs cheap. At least it keeps it out of the dump (for a while). I cut back on buying things as well. Have you ever bought something and a week later wonder why you spent money on it? Yeah, that kind of stuff.

As for transportation, I don't drive much but I have help my elderly parents and disabled brother who live several miles from me so I have to have a truck to haul my mower and other things around.


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## markr6 (Jan 7, 2014)

"JUNK IS BAD!" Love that quote from someone...don't remember who.

We just moved into a bigger home recently with a nice unfinished basement. Shed outside. Big garage. But instead of packing all those spaces full of junk just "because I can", I've been working hard to organize the things I need and MINIMIZE the stuff I bring into my home. What's the point of having a 90% empty basement? Nothing, but it makes me happy!

I have so much backpacking gear and stuff for other hobbies I haven't touched in 5 years. I'm not going to throw it out, but really put things into perspective and keep me from buying more.


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## RetroTechie (Jan 7, 2014)

jtr1962 said:


> To me trying to intentionally keep your number of possessions down to the bare minimum is as much an encumbrance as having too many possessions.


I tend (or at least try) to take an economic view of my possessions: each item has a cost, and a value (*to me!*). Something takes space (so smaller items are low cost in this regard), takes time to go through (in that sense, a 10 ton heap of bricks can be lower cost than a book), may require maintenance (so in that sense, batteries are higher cost than say, jewelry), may get in the way of accessing other things, etc, etc.

Each item also has value: resale value, a tool that you can use to turn worthless junk into valueable product, sentimental value, a book you can learn something from to make your life easier, etc, etc. For some things, that value can even be negative, that is: you would profit from getting rid of it.

Consider both in a wide sense, and the stuff that's worth keeping is the stuff whose value (*to you!*) is higher than its cost. Getting 20-packs of toilet paper is worth the storage space, because it's used regularly, and buying another roll whenever one goes out, would cost much more time than navigating around that 20-pack that sits in the attic. 

Haven't increased my amount of junk in a looonng time now. Mostly I tend to get rid of stuff for which it becomes clear I'll never use it again. For example because I've already got something better in use, and a replacement for when that breaks, is easy to find. While adding stuff that has lower cost (see above) to me than the stuff thrown out - and do so at a slower rate than getting rid of junk.


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## Spork (Jan 10, 2014)

RetroTechie said:


> Getting 20-packs of toilet paper is worth the storage space, because it's used regularly, and buying another roll whenever one goes out, would cost much more time than navigating around that 20-pack that sits in the attic.



I was going to mention almost the same thing but you said it better. So many people hoard tp. It doesn't go bad and buying it on sale can be a substantial savings. These are the kind of things that are great to have in storage if you have the room. 

I have more stuff than I realized. Ebay and finding buyers for items that have some value is time consuming which is why I procrastinated starting this project in the first place. I will certainly be more careful about any purchases in the future. It does feel great to bring in some $$ for items I no longer need and make more room to hoard tp 

As others have mentioned things like camping or backpacking gear and such take up a lot of room but these are necessary items to store if you do any of those things. That is why I like being rid of other items that are no longer used so its easier to find and store the things that are useful.


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## StarHalo (Jan 11, 2014)

That's the funny thing with buying groceries in proper minimalist form - you end up with giant containers of mundane things and cabinets overstuffed with sundries. It's hard to feel "minimalist" when you start your morning with a container of coffee the size of a bowling ball and a pack of eggs that needs its own shelf in the fridge, but even a cursory glance at the math shows plainly that's the cheapest way to live..


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## Cataract (Jan 13, 2014)

Those small houses make me feel claustrophobic. I'm a hiker and love walking, so I need a lot of space even at home. I even have this dream of a house just big enough (nothing like a mansion) to have a small indoor trail with walls decorated in landscapes to go from room to room and take the long way just for kicks. As for my car, no one will keep me from having one (I definitely was a pilot in a past life) but I can understand that some people prefer to go without for various reasons. Too many cars in my way anyways 

Here's my story:

I used to be a hoarder. I'd keep everything unless it was broken or completely useless. I even bought things in double and triple or more when I saw great specials. One day I decided to take the "if it hasn't been used in X amount of time, get rid of it." The first time I got rid of everything that had not been used in 2 years. I filled up at least 3 recycling containers with paper and another 2 with plastic and other items. I gave away at least 3 full garbage bags of clothes (a few brand new never worn items) and threw away at least 10 garbage bags full of old junk - and I live in a 3 1/2 apartment!. The next year I took it down to stuff that hadn't been used in a year and filled up the recycling container at least twice again and threw away another 4-5 garbage bags of junk, plus gave away another 2-3 garbage bags full to charity. I was still in the same apartment. 

Ever since (about 6 years now) I take a day or two during my vacation to clean up and still usually get rid of about 2-3 garbage bags full of stuff to recycle/donate/trash. Last year it was down to 1 or 2 garbage bags. After I moved last month, I filled the trash can with old cans that were expired. Couldn't believe the date on some of that stuff (some expired in 2001!) I still have some stuff that needs to go, mostly decoration items that were cluttering the place up for nothing, and a small box for charity. Just before the move, I spent a lot of money in tote containers and started organizing my tools and cleaning stuff. That took a while, but now I can actually enter and close the door in the storage closet, plus those were boxes that didn't need to be done or undone anymore. As a technician I do have most tools required for car maintenance and a lot of products for maintenance, but that's part of who I am.

I still have some leftovers from the hoarding days, but only what I call "semi-consumables": 14 towels (7 are now rags) 3 pairs of hiking boots (upgrades of upgrades, but one pair is replacing my 2 dead pairs of winter boots) 5 sets of bed sheets (2 sets given to charity), jackets for all and I mean ALL weather and temperature imaginable (anyone wants to buy my leather jacket?), 2 drawers full of t-shirts, a drawer full of socks and another one for undies and I might be forgetting a few items. BUT... this is all stuff that actually gets used and basically saves me money by keeping it as I know they will need to be replaced at some point, so as one wears out, another one gets worn more often. I do have to think of something useful for the 4 extra backpacks that rarely see any use, though. BTW, if you think I spent a lot of money on those, all had been bought at an average of 60% rebate, so I'm actually saving money by keeping these.

Most of the reclaimed space has been filled with useful hobby items though: hiking equipment, sowing machine, leather work accessories, etc. I don't use those very often, but those things do save me money as I often make useful things that help organize stuff. Well, the hiking equipment helps on fitness and spare time only, but I don't plan on quitting hiking anytime soon. 

So, I am not a real minimalist, but I do what I can and sure do appreciate the absence of useless junk. I do still hoard toilet paper, tissue boxes, toothbrushes and all sorts of toiletries. I think that's a minimalistic use of time as I don't have to shop for those every month


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## Isabella80 (Mar 7, 2014)

I used to be really sentimental about things. Apparently, I just couldn't think about throwing away things that were bought for money and wasn't broken or hopelessly damaged. Besides, a pile of stuff that I've collected looked really threatening and I couldn't force myself to free some space. I actually started with my old CDs and games that I stored from my school years. Most of them weren't encrypted so Daemon Tools helped me copy them on my external hard drive and get rid of dozens of boxes. I didn't want to go hardcore and throw away everything I don't use (obviously, we want to keep some things that we've been holding dear for so many years) but really old and stupid stuff like old coats and broken furniture have found a new home in the trash bags. I should say that was a relief. Seriously, mess around us gives birth to mess inside our heads. Things are just things and most of the stuff people store in their houses does nothing for them except for clogging their living space.


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## Monocrom (Mar 7, 2014)

Speaking of sentimental things.... I know I'll never get rid of my Streamlight TL-2 LED model (non-C4 labelled.) 

It's output now is considered downright pathetic at 42 lumens. And those are emitter lumens. So it's putting out about 28 actual lumens out the front.... from two CR123 lithium primaries. (Yeah, I bought it back when incandescent versions of the very same models were just better and brighter than their LED counterparts.) 

But it was my first true, modern, EDC light. Served me well during the short time I carried it regularly.


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## Cataract (Mar 7, 2014)

Having just moved, I realized how many more useless things I was still holding onto. Filled another 2-3 garbage bags, but some of that was for charity. Still have 2 big boxes of stuff I want to sell when I have time to take care of that and a few things on the balcony too heavy to haul around in the current temperatures. I also got rid of a few old accessories that I replaced with new ones since they reminded me of a past that is just that: past.


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## callmaster (Mar 7, 2014)

Yeah, I can understand having all that clutter at home due to hobbies and what not. I had a huge collection of blu-rays, slipcovers, poker cards, books, toys, whatever else you can think of. After a while I decided that I didn't want any of those things anymore, I was holding on to them for reasons unknown to me. I managed to get rid of quite a bit of them and I have a lot less clutter in my home. There are still the blu-rays and the slipcovers and a few other things but I'm working on getting rid of em slowly. It's hard to sell things like that, no one wants em  I buy my PS4/PSV games digitally so I don't have to bother selling em off.

I avoid collecting things now because I don't need much. Just the flashlights and I have only about 10 or so with a bunch of batteries.


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## whiteoakjoe (Mar 8, 2014)

Best years of my life (Don't tell the wife I said that!) I did 3 years in a 3 room cabin on 100acers of woods up against the state forest. I had electricity, water from a cistern, No TV or electronics other than a chest freezer for game meat and fish. I did have a CC crane radio. I took my pension out and lived on that cash during that time. I went to grocery store / Walmart about once every other month or so. Winter was tough I always heard the term Cabin Fever but never understood it until one month I could not get out. Not due to snow, but cold rains and deep mud for 30 days. I'm getting old now, but would do it again if I could.


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## StarHalo (Mar 8, 2014)

whiteoakjoe said:


> Best years of my life (Don't tell the wife I said that!) I did 3 years in a 3 room cabin on 100acers of land. I had electricity, and water from a cistern, No TV or electronics other than a chest freezer for game meat and fish.



What'd you do with your evenings, books?


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## whiteoakjoe (Mar 8, 2014)

Yea I read a lot, listened to the radio, I had a mail box so I subscribed to a lot of magazines and "magazine days were some of the best days" I would read some cover to cover twice. Had a pond full of catfish and bass at the edge of the cabin so fished a lot after dark. And the girl that I married would come out about 2 or 3 times a week.


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## Cataract (Mar 8, 2014)

That's a hard to beat minimalist lifestyle!


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## edeekeos (Mar 8, 2014)

Whats a 'minimalist', never heard that word..:shrug: Pretty sure I'm up around 80+ lights in my 'collection'..  LMAO!

No, for real though, my wife and I, are both VERY bad about emotional attachment to things. Her more-so than me. You know it's bad when SHE has issues with me selling my lights. But that is the majority of our clutter I guess. No DVD's/Blu-Rays/Books/Magazines/etc. Haven't even payed for a television service my whole life. I use the web for entertainment, news, weather, reading, ect. I own a PS3(got it for free), but ZERO games, we just use it for Netflix/Redbox. Both have cells, computers, and an iPad. I was a PC repair tech at my previous job, so I still have alot of crap from that, that I should probably trash. Oh, and we own lots of guns/knives/and survival gear. We live in the boonies, so I feel these are necessary:tinfoil:.


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## Koto (Mar 30, 2014)

Outside of memorabilia, letters, files, and tools etc… anything I haven't used for over a year gets thrown out, sold, or donated. This includes clothing, tech, worthless cookies supplies (mom bought me a slap chop, I find my Japanese culinary knife to be far easier to use and clean) and books I know I'll never read again.

Like someone said before, put stuff you know you never use in a box and in 6 months come back to it. If it's really not needed give it away.

My tiny apartment is very Scandinavian styled so clutter and anything unnecessary are nowhere to be found. Everything has it's place and I have specific shelves for pictures and nicknacks.

I hope this helps!


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## Monocrom (Mar 30, 2014)

You throw away clothing and tech. that is only a year old?

That's one way to live minimalist. But expensive too.


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## Chauncey Gardiner (Mar 30, 2014)

The trick with the box, if you haven't needed anything inside, don't open it......just give it away. 

~ Chance


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## Monocrom (Mar 30, 2014)

Actually, yeah; it does. I've re-read it twice now.


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## HarryN (Mar 31, 2014)

I had a real eye opening experience helping to move my Dad to an assisted living center. Downsizing from a (small) home of 7 people to just 2 bedrooms which needed lots of space for his handicaps left a lot behind.

We have spent a lot of time dividing up what is left, giving things away, etc, which was important since keeping them involved shipping boxes, not just packing stuff into the car trunk.

I became determined to not leave this "situation" for my kids to deal with in the future, and have spent a lot of time on organizing, giving things to my kids now (rather than later), and getting rid of stuff - none of these are in my DNA. My son-in-law asked me if I was dying or something, so I actually had to take some time to explain my logic to everyone.

It's not like I don't still have plenty of stuff, but I find that there is plenty of joy in owning "one" of something, and passing the rest on to someone else, or dumping it.


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## Chauncey Gardiner (Mar 31, 2014)

It's more healthy to own stuff, than have stuff own you. 

~ Chauncey Gardiner


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## zespectre (Mar 31, 2014)

When I moved away from home after college, the sum total of my possessions fit into the trunk and back seat of a 1980 Trans-Am (and that is a tiny trunk) and a small trailer holding a steamer trunk and three army-sized footlockers and an ironing board.

Over the years, marriage, etc. I've accumulated a fair amount of stuff (though for an American I'm still pretty low-key except for my tools and photo gear).

Just recently my wife and I were talking (in a theoretical tone) about whether or not we could live the "RV" lifestyle, and we couldn't decide if we'd be happy with the limits imposed by even the BIG bus-type RV's out there now. Speaking just for me, if I had adequate computer gear and my photography equipment I think I'd be pretty happy overall leaving most of the rest of it behind.


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## moldyoldy (Apr 1, 2014)

zespectre said:


> When I moved away from home after college, the sum total of my possessions fit into the trunk and back seat of a 1980 Trans-Am (and that is a tiny trunk) and a small trailer holding a steamer trunk and three army-sized footlockers and an ironing board.
> 
> Over the years, marriage, etc. I've accumulated a fair amount of stuff (though for an American I'm still pretty low-key except for my tools and photo gear).
> 
> Just recently my wife and I were talking (in a theoretical tone) about whether or not we could live the "RV" lifestyle, and we couldn't decide if we'd be happy with the limits imposed by even the BIG bus-type RV's out there now. Speaking just for me, if I had adequate computer gear and my photography equipment I think I'd be pretty happy overall leaving most of the rest of it behind.



+1 ... albeit less the RV lifestyle. 

For years my lifestyle was dictated first by what would fit into a military duffle bag. then out of the military, what would fit into a single car (Honda Civic). Then marriage + kids and the eventual single-family dwelling (1100 sq ft) wrecked all those illusions. However with the kids out, downsizing is obvious. My mother moved some 4 times and we halved her possesions for each move. The first move was, uh, a mentally trying time for all involved. After she died, her possessions fit into the back seat of my Civic. After giving away nearly all of my tools, engineering books, etc. etc., I am essentially living in a single room again with my gear. My better half has quite a way to go though. However both of us are tired of home ownership maintenance and the unexpected major expenses. Of course being dually based for living lessens the perceptions of 'need'. IOW, the normal cycle of life.

I take note that living with less has been showing up in the German press much more lately. The latest issue of Der Spiegel has their feature article of "Konsum Verzicht" (literally xlated: Consumption abstention). Also, living in a crowded society such as Japan's main cities is an exercise in how to live in less space. Sort of like life on board a ship, or even on a sub.

Edit: regarding working with less: While exercising this morning around 0600 at a fitness center, I watched a Satellite channel transmission about growing mushrooms. The largest site was in Pennsylvania 300 ft below the surface level. No fixed artificial lights were allowed. All workers had a headlamp to pick the ripe mushrooms. Those headlamps appeared to be LED with a red translucent bezel.


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## ElectronGuru (Apr 1, 2014)

Fun thread, lots of good ideas here!

Dad was a child of the depression and imparted to me, many values drawn from that time. I tend to buy things that last, make do with one, and (not as well as him) repurpose older things for newer purposes. Even putting a perfectly serviceable wood screw into recycling, there's a little voice screaming no, save it so you don't have to buy one when you need one. When I collect something, it tends to be hard to find (like color Mag C) or with a high qualification threshold (like complicated Legos). After 20 some years with two camera lenses, I only last year moved to three (and only because I changed from all zooms to all primes).

That said, I'm still human and humans tend to adjust into whatever space they have. You think that extra room or garage or basement or shed or storage unit will be the fix and it just becomes another space to organize, catalog and manage. As has been mentioned, the fastest way to learn to do without is moving - yourself. If you have to pack it and lift it and load it and drive it, the burden of keeping it comes into sharp relief. I moved 4 times in 5 years and by the end had myself on a stuff-diet so severe, we had to buy furniture for the dining room in the new place.

Transportation is an interesting example. Mrs Guru and I started out with his and her cars. Lots of gas and lots of maintenance in a car dependent city. We sold both of them and got a new smaller car to share. Combined with an older neighborhood with walking to many places (including two micro brews!), our total annual car expenses (gas, insurance, maintenance) are under $1k. It wouldn't work if we had two places to drive every day but with a home business its easy enough.

We recently cleaned out a closet, a linen closet with no linens! Most of the stuff turned out to be free cosmetics they hand out with cosmetics. They are not allowed to have sales, so the retailer gives away free stuff with a promotional blitz to drive sales. Except its stuff she doesn't need and can't be given away so it got stuffed away. Gallons of tubes, jars, and boxes that never needed to be made or bought or stored.

Last year, I was on a bit of a mission in the kitchen. Find three appliances that would replace all of the others. Complimentary, multipurpose, and reliable. Each had to do at least two things well, save us at least as much time and energy as the ones they replaced, and be small enough that the entire set fit on a single counter. I got the last one in December and am still finding new uses for it! I did something similar with HVAC, finding appliances that would both heat and cool and take less energy than those they replaced.

Quick note on paper: get a couple of shredders, the easiest way to be rid of paper is to 'file' it before it needs storage.


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## zespectre (Apr 1, 2014)

ElectronGuru said:


> Quick note on paper: get a couple of shredders, the easiest way to be rid of paper is to 'file' it before it needs storage.



Yeah, the "neat" scanning system has been a godsend for me. I'm down to ONE filebox of critical stuff (birth certs and so forth where you have to retain the original) and that sits in a fireproof safe. My wife is still struggling with shredding receipts and bills after they've been paid and scanned so her desk still has quite a pile of paper.


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## markr6 (Apr 1, 2014)

zespectre said:


> Yeah, the "neat" scanning system has been a godsend for me. I'm down to ONE filebox of critical stuff (birth certs and so forth where you have to retain the original) and that sits in a fireproof safe. My wife is still struggling with shredding receipts and bills after they've been paid and scanned so her desk still has quite a pile of paper.



On a related note, I really wish EVERY retailer would ask you if you want a *receipt*. Not many places do this. Home Depot asks you if you'd prefer it to be emailed, but I never tried that. My bank asks before printing. My local hardware store asks, but after they print it...but that's better in their trash or else it ends up in my pocket, then the washer, then the dryer which pulverizes it into a million pieces. Or it ends up in my car. Many other people litter.

Receipts for a $2.99 can of spray paint or a $0.89 cup of coffee drives me crazy!


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## moldyoldy (Apr 1, 2014)

markr6 said:


> <snip>
> 
> Receipts for a $2.99 can of spray paint or a $0.89 cup of coffee drives me crazy!



agreed, but, if you have ever been the target of an IRS compliance audit where you have to prove everything financial or financially related, and I do mean everything, you would be scanning those receipts assiduously! In retirement my brother served as a taxation advisor to a lot of senior citizens. he said that even he would have problems with a compliance audit. The IRS uses the resultant compliance info as a basis for their more targeted audits. An IRS compliance audit is supposedly based on a totally random-based selection of who to audit.

- eg: notarized marriage certificates from the State (church certs do not count). same for birth/death certificates. 
- eg: In a compliance audit, the IRS adds all deposits in all of your bank accounts together, states that the total is your yearly income. Prove otherwise.... ouch! Not simple at all! Each sum has to be traced from/to! I have heard this one from a CPA as well. Terrifying to pull that info together!

Hence the strong preference for me is to either scan the receipt, or obtain *.pdf bank statements and store those on a hard drive that is NOT normally spinning. and have an offline backup of that hard drive as well!


Edit: banks are shortening their time for access to online statements. Some are down to one year only!


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## HarryN (Apr 3, 2014)

I am not sure that it falls under "minimalist" vs. "simplifying", but for the past year I have been simplifying my use of coins.

We all have seen how the "change pile / change jar" can keep growing, and it is a real pain to sort through to get rid of it. For the past year, I have been using only the nickel (5 cent) and quarter (25 cent), and the result is really surprisingly effective.

You might think that the key is to stop using the penny ( 1 cent), but the real key is to stop using the dime ( 10 cent). 

Go through your change pile, pull out the dimes, and try to keep from bringing any home. The result will surprise you.


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## jtr1962 (Apr 3, 2014)

HarryN said:


> I am not sure that it falls under "minimalist" vs. "simplifying", but for the past year I have been simplifying my use of coins.
> 
> We all have seen how the "change pile / change jar" can keep growing, and it is a real pain to sort through to get rid of it. For the past year, I have been using only the nickel (5 cent) and quarter (25 cent), and the result is really surprisingly effective.
> 
> ...


What happens to all the pennies if you only use nickles and quarters?

BTW, many people I know have pails of pennies sitting around. It's amazing how many you accumulate. Now that the copper in pre-1982 cents is worth something like 3 cents, I'm not at all inclined to cash in what I have.


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## Monocrom (Apr 3, 2014)

jtr1962 said:


> What happens to all the pennies if you only use nickles and quarters?
> 
> BTW, many people I know have pails of pennies sitting around. It's amazing how many you accumulate. Now that the copper in pre-1982 cents is worth something like 3 cents, I'm not at all inclined to cash in what I have.



Yeah, copper used to be practically worthless.... Now you have fricking junkies breaking into public works to steal copper pipping. Honestly, I can't blame those who horde real copper pennies.


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## HarryN (Apr 3, 2014)

I realize that it is common thinking to keep focusing on the penny as a way to be more organized, but believe me, the life reward benefit comes when you stop using the dime.


Try it for 90 days and see what you think. It is a completely non-linear effect.


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## Cataract (Apr 3, 2014)

jtr1962 said:


> What happens to all the pennies if you only use nickles and quarters?
> 
> BTW, many people I know have pails of pennies sitting around. It's amazing how many you accumulate. Now that the copper in pre-1982 cents is worth something like 3 cents, I'm not at all inclined to cash in what I have.



There are no more pennies being made in Canada. When you pay cash, the number is rounded to the nearest 5 cent: X.X1 or x.x2 = x.x0 and x.x3, x.x4 = x.x5, same principle between 6 and 9 cents. The banks will still take them in, but if you ask for cash, I wonder what happens to your last 2 cents. :thinking:




HarryN said:


> I realize that it is common thinking to keep focusing on the penny as a way to be more organized, but believe me, the life reward benefit comes when you stop using the dime.
> 
> 
> Try it for 90 days and see what you think. It is a completely non-linear effect.



We also have coin dollars and 2 dollars. I use everything quarter and up to pay for small stuff or things under 10$ as soon as I have enough. If you think pennies pile up, you can pay for your vacation fast when coins go up to 2$. It drove me mad, however, so I figured use the big change to pay as I go and put the small change in a machine to get cash back. Sure, it costs 10%, but the loss is worth my hourly pay in time and it does take quite a while to pile up over 20$. Maybe I'll roll the dimes and use it to help pay for beer at the corner store (yep, that's where beer comes from over here), but that would only leave nickels... I think I'm too lazy to go that route at this point! Rolling a nickel roll or pay 20 cents? Rolling a dime roll or pay 50 cents over 5$? Definitely a matter of how many pounds of change left in the pot.


On a non-related note, but still in the spirit of the thread:

I know some guys (from a multinational company I prefer not to mention) that do service calls all over the Americas and they pretty much spend their entire work weeks traveling to different places by plane. One of them just lives off his suitcase, staying wherever his last call was for the weekend. His belongings are all in that one suitcase. He only needs to pay for his food and entertainment on the weekend, clothes cleaning at a laundromat (most hotels have one) and the hotel room charge for the weekends. The thing is these guys travel so much, they all have privilege cards for most hotel chains that add up points like crazy, so this one guy basically only has a 400 to 600 steady expense a month (usually for a suite!) plus food and laundry and the occasional car rental. His company cell phone covers all his phone needs and the company pays for travel on friday once they're done, so he can go see his family whenever he wants or just plain travel to anywhere he'd like to spend the weekend. I'd probably be seen in South Beach most of the off-season time if that was me, but I need a roof for all my flashlights .


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## HarryN (Apr 4, 2014)

The sheer number of types of euro coins, while politically, and perhaps mathematically correct, is what originally drove me to seek more simplicity. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 1 euro, 2 euro - all in common use, are really challenging for a short term visitor to use quickly.

You are exactly right though, coin dollars and euro have the effect of your change going from "not that much" to "high value" fast. It can be a real problem.

My plan for the next trip to Germany is to only use the 5 and 20 cent, and 1 euro coins. 

Similar to the concept of using only the 5 and 25 cent coins in the US, it is so much faster, easier, and - lighter to carry around. Not as obvious, but it also makes the coin value increase with diameter, which is disrupted in many currencies with the dime.


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## ElectronGuru (Apr 19, 2014)

Cataract said:


> It drove me mad, however, so I figured use the big change to pay as I go and put the small change in a machine to get cash back. Sure, it costs 10%, but the loss is worth my hourly pay in time and it does take quite a while to pile up over 20$.



The commercial change machines at grocery stores charge fees. Some credit unions have no fee machines. Bring in as much as you want of any kind and deposit the proceeds right into your savings.


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## Treeguy (Apr 19, 2014)

Spork said:


> I look at things differently now on whats important to keep.



Been reading "Walden" have you? _"Simplify, simplify!"_ 

Henry had it right when he said we become the victims of our possessions. During the last year I have gotten rid of far more stuff than I have acquired. And as the days go by I seem to own less and less. Even gave away most of my library, just kept the classics I can`t live without. Like "Walden". 

Less is better.


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## HarryN (Apr 19, 2014)

Cataract - try moving toward using just the 5 cent, 25 cent, and 1 dollar coins only and see if that helps. While I don't particularly like the idea of a dollar coin either, at least this avoids having to deal with 2 dollar coins as well. 

My change box is so much easier to use now since the dimes are removed. Their smaller size, while seemingly a benefit, just helped jam the coins tighter together, making it difficult to quickly grab some.


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## idleprocess (Apr 19, 2014)

A bit of background:

My father worked for International Paper mid-70s through the mid-90s - back when corporate America would still pay to relocate mid-level employees around. He often describes a company event after the last move to Texas where a woman did a double-take after seeing his name tag, introduced herself, then proceeded to mention how she managed relocations and our family held the company weight moved record _three times in a row_.

We had a lot of miscellaneous stuff when I was a kid. A 1949 Chevy Carry-All, a cast-iron wood-fired kitchen stove that sat in the garage (or rather "the shop" as it was known), and dad's extensive collection of tools and woodworking equipment (including a number of freestanding machines), and a neverending array of miscellnaeous parts/fasteners/oddities whose origins were not always clear.

But the icing on the cake had to be the contents of what was often referred to as _the aircraft carrier_. This was a heavy frame that was about 4' tall, 8' wide, and ran nearly the length of the garage. The interior housed the bulk of dad's considerable wood collection. On the sides were a constantly-changing variety of shelves. On top was more wood, a variety of shelves and drawers, and most of the rest of dad's wood collection.

Oh, and the wood collection itself. Dad got his start working at in a laboratory testing various fabrication techniques for cabinets, plywood, and the like - the samples were tossed once testing was complete and were still plenty useful. He then worked at a facility with an abandoned cabinet factory in the early 1980s where they had tons of fine-grained old-growth pine and cedar that had been written off by the accountants, thus was free for the taking. From there it just snowballed and he started grabbing anything interesting or potentially useful. I suspect that dad had several tons of wood at the high point.

It's probably not helping things now that dad is working at a plywood mill and can buy sheets of plywood from production overrruns at true factory cost and has a true standalone shop to house it all.



So it goes without saying that I have some hoarding tendencies, albeit not to the degree that I'd be remotely interesting to the producers of that TV show. I either attach a sort of sentimentalism to an object or envision some potential use for it. Either way there's a reluctance to dispose of many things - although the latter is stronger.

At a previous job they had this glorious scrap bin full of all sorts of interesting things with potential future value - discarded obsolete/out-of-spec parts, electronic components, trim stock, and other goodies that I plundered. I've also relieved construction sites of useful materials from scrap piles (benefit of owning a truck). 

After the folks moved out of the Dallas area, I "inherited" a lot of this junk via a storage unit they left behind and I assumed responsibility for. I've since moved twice and the necessity of paring down the junk collection has helped this process. I'm currently engaged in some de-cluttering throughout the house now that I have some time to spare and deciding that there's never feasibly going to be a use for a lot of this stuff so I need to dispose of it, donate it, or sell it. Some stuff is set aside for the sake of sentimentalism or feasible future use, but most is being donated or disposed of.

It's also difficult to escape the siren call of consumerism in our image-driven society with flashy new goods getting cheaper year after year. I've largely accepted that _more stuff_ won't make me happier without serving a specific purpose. ie, I don't buy a new flashlight just because - I need an application for it first. I've recently gotten into cycling and have resisted the urge to upgrade components until I identify some deficiency with the current setups. This thinking not only saves money and reduces clutter, but forces one to focus on activities other than acquisition.



I'm also familiar with the "tiny house" movement and find it fascinating, but I'm a bit too entrenched in my current residence and have a few too many interests to pare things down that much. Perhaps in another 10 -20 years.


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## Cataract (Apr 19, 2014)

ElectronGuru said:


> The commercial change machines at grocery stores charge fees. Some credit unions have no fee machines. Bring in as much as you want of any kind and deposit the proceeds right into your savings.






HarryN said:


> Cataract - try moving toward using just the 5 cent, 25 cent, and 1 dollar coins only and see if that helps. While I don't particularly like the idea of a dollar coin either, at least this avoids having to deal with 2 dollar coins as well.
> 
> My change box is so much easier to use now since the dimes are removed. Their smaller size, while seemingly a benefit, just helped jam the coins tighter together, making it difficult to quickly grab some.



Since we got rid of the pennies, I only have nickels and dimes in my coin "basket". It normally would have been ripe for an hour long coin rolling session by now, but it actually only has a small layer in it. It probably is worth about the same as a full basket with pennies, though... What a change getting rid of those dirty smelly coins no one cared about! Minimalist lifestyle is also a nationwide affair!


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## LanthanumK (May 8, 2014)

In the next few years, I plan to try the minimalist lifestyle, e.g. living out of a tiny RV pulled by my V6 Ford Explorer. As we are moving in a few months (yes I'm 19 and I still live with my parents ), I have already consolidated my belongings somewhat, discarding almost all old stuff and electronics parts that I had laying around. After I finish junior year exams I will further consolidate my stuff, including the gear shoved in every crevice in the Explorer, to the point where it can all fit in the trunk and back row of my Ford Explorer. I decided to go minimalist to stay independent and debt/rent-free on a rather low-paying job in the near future, despite having 3 years of college education. My dad says I'm pessimistic.

No one at home understands why I would pay $80 for a SF, and still use the $10 phone that I had for the past 4 years. Suffice it to say that I use the light more than the phone. My $10 per YEAR plan is great.


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## Lit Up (May 30, 2014)

Spork said:


> http://www.missminimalist.com/2012/11/storage-is-not-a-solution/



I think she was the one that related a story about being broken into once before. She kept her laptop with her and had very minimal stuff at her apartment. The perp went through great lengths screwing up the door jamb to get in. He found very little to take. The cop that made the report told her it looked like he totally cleaned her out, she told him nah he got about 3 or so items. The cop was bewildered. lol

For me, if push comes to shove, I could make do with a XL North Face Base Camp duffel bag of stuff and a smartphone. People actually need very little.


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## Lit Up (May 30, 2014)

Treeguy said:


> Been reading "Walden" have you? _"Simplify, simplify!"_
> 
> Henry had it right when he said we become the victims of our possessions. During the last year I have gotten rid of far more stuff than I have acquired. And as the days go by I seem to own less and less. Even gave away most of my library, just kept the classics I can`t live without. Like "Walden".
> 
> Less is better.



Age is definitely a motivating factor in seeking out less. Too much time and energy tied up in upkeep. Consumerism has just had its way with everyone for a good while.


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## Full Power (Aug 3, 2014)

thedoc007 said:


> Indeed, starting is the hardest part. Keep at it!
> 
> I'm definitely not a hoarder...I live in a one-bedroom apartment, and there is TONS of extra space to store stuff. While I don't methodically go through everything, anytime I open a box, I do look through and see if there is anything I don't use/want. I have moved a couple times, and that helped me unburden more than anything...if you have to transport it, that is definitely a good motivator to get rid of it.
> 
> If you need more motivation, just think of all the good you can do for other people by getting rid of unnecessary stuff. Donate books to your local library, donate clothes to Goodwill or similar, even sell off collectibles you don't want and donate the proceeds to a charity. And if you have children, they will thank you too. I know someone who had a hoarder dad, and he literally spent two YEARS of his life (every weekend) sorting through his father's belongings after he died (there were valuables and bank info, etc., so he didn't want to throw anything away until he went through it. Don't make your kids do that...


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## mcnair55 (Aug 3, 2014)

HarryN said:


> The sheer number of types of euro coins, while politically, and perhaps mathematically correct, is what originally drove me to seek more simplicity. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 1 euro, 2 euro - all in common use, are really challenging for a short term visitor to use quickly.
> 
> You are exactly right though, coin dollars and euro have the effect of your change going from "not that much" to "high value" fast. It can be a real problem.
> 
> ...




As much as you try you will fail,my suggestion put all your unwanted Euro coins in the little charity envelope usually provided in your seat pull down area where the in flight mag is,ask the trolley dolly for one if it is not there.


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## scout24 (Aug 3, 2014)

I'm not ready to try it, but I'll paraphrase. Not sure exactly where I heard it but: "You only truly own what you can carry while running." (Sort of quoted...  )


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## Spork (Aug 3, 2014)

I've enjoyed reading everyone's response. Thanks for posting! My basement was difficult to navigate before I started. After many car loads of donations and ebay sales I have a huge stack of empty totes and a mostly clear basement. My Wife has a lot of things she won't get rid of so I have that consolidated in a corner. Most of the house doesn't look much different but it would be much easier to move and now its easier to store and find household items. I will always have various things that need to be donated or sold but the bulk of this project is done. 

Digging through some things has also sparked interest in a few hobbies that I started with but didn't get very far. I have a 8" dob telescope that I cleaned up the mirror on and read up how to collimate. I hadn't used it in a while mostly because I was to lazy to learn how to collimate and my Wife threw up on my planisphere so I needed to buy a new one. I was also digging through some old cb gear figuring out what I wanted to sell. I always wanted a ham license and could have easily passed the test but never got around to it. I'm going to rectify that. I don't know if it will end up being a major hobby for me but just having a basic 2 meter ht would be great for emergencies and to take with when traveling. 

Now that the house is clear I can focus on other things.


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## idleprocess (Aug 3, 2014)

Spork said:


> [...] and a mostly clear basement.



I've never lived in a house with a basement - WA, CA, OR, LA TX ... all either built into hillsides (first 3) or slab foundations (latter 2). Whenever the family would visit relatives in WI or MN they were always mystified and slightly annoyed that I wanted to see the basement. Took me years to realize that basements tend to be where crap gets accumulated - especially right before company shows up.


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## ElectronGuru (Aug 4, 2014)

Favorite nickname for the basement = 'land of away'

The modern equivalent is the 2 car garage with the cars parked outside.


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## Spork (Aug 4, 2014)

Basements are a great place to have the furnace, washer and dryer etc. We are prone to tornadoes here in the midwest and I would be quite uncomfortable without one. Although some have a full walk out basement or a partially above ground with windows (like mine). If there was any risk at all for tornadoes I would want some kind of storm shelter. 

Every house in our neighborhood has a 2-3 car garage but so many people still park on the street making it more difficult to navigate. Probably because they fill them up with so much junk. With the house comes yard tools and other items for maintaining them so I can understand somewhat. Someone staying in a apartment can get by with much less.


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## ElectronGuru (Aug 4, 2014)

Spork said:


> Someone staying in a apartment can get by with much less.



This is an interesting point. You can't write-off rent, so people are incentivized toward places that hold more.


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## idleprocess (Aug 4, 2014)

ElectronGuru said:


> The modern equivalent is the 2 car garage with the cars parked outside.


I blame my broken garage door opener... otherwise there's room for _one_ car in said 2-car garage.


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## Cataract (Aug 4, 2014)

idleprocess said:


> I've never lived in a house with a basement - WA, CA, OR, LA TX ... all either built into hillsides (first 3) or slab foundations (latter 2). Whenever the family would visit relatives in WI or MN they were always mystified and slightly annoyed that I wanted to see the basement. *Took me years to realize that basements tend to be where crap gets accumulated *- especially right before company shows up.



 ask to see the attic next time; that's where you'll find the _oldest_ crap 

Basements, attics and empty garages almost always end up with years of useless stuff in them. Why do people think they will one day use the old headboard they just replaced beats me. If you have to put clothes in a garbage bag for long term storage, why stop in the garage and not take it out with the trash? (well, donating would be smarter, but you know what I mean) 

Almost every single house here has a basement by necessity else the foundations would just crack open every spring. More modern houses usually have a finished basement, so less tempting space for storing useless stuff and the newest houses in my area barely have anything that looks like a basement, more like a 2.5 foot underfloor with no foundations. I wonder how those will hold up, but at least they'll be that much faster to empty... In fact, 90%+ new houses here don't even leave any room for a workbench area (or a garage to compensate), which IMO is sort of necessary if you want to repair some of the stuff in the house. I guess people decided tools were one of the object types that was easiest to cut down on. 

I'm in an apartment and still have almost all but powertools (I do own a drill). I do have a lot of things most people don't have -especially living in an apartment- but I justify that by the fact that it seriously helps cutting down on expenses for external help rather than cutting down on bulk. I also enjoy doing things myself. I have to admit I have a serious hobbyist in me and have a hard time getting rid of anything that could be sold easily, but everything I keep gets used at least once a year, so why not keep enjoying the investment return?

A little off topic, but the key in my case is organization and lots of rubbermaid storage boxes. I can pull out anything in a minute and you wouldn't suspect I have that (or even room for it). Plus, I don't even need to think about how I am going to box my tools next time I move. "Good, one less thing!" (Forest Gump)


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## idleprocess (Aug 4, 2014)

Cataract said:


> ask to see the attic next time; that's where you'll find the _oldest_ crap


Attics lack the convenient _gravity feed_ feature of a basement.

Jerks that built my house decided a ~30" x 30" hatch was sufficient for the attic.


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## RA40 (Aug 5, 2014)

A spell back I read a book titled Clearing the Clutter blah blah Feng Shui or something like that. Got me started and was working well. Invariably digging through the accumulation one comes across items that are useful even though they my not have been used recently. The amusing part is my long engrained thought of back-up. Ugh which causes a multitude of failures to cleaning up thoroughly.  This past week, I cleared my parents 10x10' self storage locker up. Dad had paid $99/month and lets just say he's had that unit since 1986. Shredded about 300#'s+ worth of paper stuffs containing lots of junk mail, income tax returns from the 50's and so on. He had the books I read as a child there and I even found baby clothes from when I was born. 

I'd like to simplify more and my way of helping that goal is to go weeks, months without buying toys. Working well and I've sold off a fair amount as well. The older I get, I don't desire to have all that inventory in mental memory. The more space available, it becomes easy to fill it up because it exists. :/


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## LGT (Aug 7, 2014)

Lit Up said:


> Age is definitely a motivating factor in seeking out less. Too much time and energy tied up in upkeep. Consumerism has just had its way with everyone for a good while.


Consumerism. A word I often use around the holidays when retail America is trying to shove down your throat why it's absolutely necessary to buy the needles poop they're selling.


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## Chauncey Gardiner (Aug 7, 2014)

Passing over the fulcrum of where one owns his possessions to the place where one is owned by his possessions is to be avoided. 

~ Chance


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## Cataract (Aug 8, 2014)

A tad off topic and not at the same time: 

I once read a text by someone who said they channeled a spirit from a lighter dimension where spirits just fed by absorbing energy. I don't care what people think about talking to spirits, the text was a funny fresh view point on our living arrangements. 

The spirit said that he had been observing us for a few years and figured out the source of all our problems; we must eat to absorb energy. In his world, if one needs energy, all one needs is simply to absorb energy, much like an amoeba absorbs water by coming in contact with it. According to him, if we could just absorb the energy that's floating about, we'd be much freer. 

His explanation went as such (or very close): Because we have to eat, we need dishes. We then need cupboards to keep our dishes in. This means we need housing to protect our cupboards from the elements and accommodate the means to clean our dishes and keep them fresh. Housing means we need to work to pay for building and keep paying to pay for the access roads from the building to a workplace. This infers traffic and stress because we need to get to work to pay for the building that houses our dishes so we can survive another day. Everyone is stressed in that traffic, so everyone is stressed when they get to the work that pays for the roads that allows us to house our precious dishes. The stress we live and the bad weather we need to cross to pay for our dishes and their precious housing causes disease. Disease means that we will at some point need to work some extra time to make sure our dishes does not get thrown out onto the road that was built so we can protect those dishes. This all means that if we didn't need to eat, we'd be just fine...

It sure can sound ridiculous, but I definitely agree with the bottom line.


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## idleprocess (Aug 9, 2014)

Cataract said:


> This all means that if we didn't need to eat, we'd be just fine...


APPETITE, n. An instinct thoughtfully implanted by Providence as a solution to the labor question.

(Courtesy _The Devil's Dictionary_ ... also seems like something for the "words to live by" thread)


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## Lit Up (Sep 26, 2014)

Been reducing over the past year. And yeah, while some go nuts and count the items they have, it's not necessary. If you have 1 1/2 hours to kill, this video is a good watch. Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus both had nice 6 figure jobs at one point and bought all the toys. Result: no happiness to be found. Joshua also came from a pretty rough childhood. Father was a schizophrenic who died and his mother was a pretty bad-off alcoholic who later died in 2009 of cancer. The memior "Everything That Remains" is a good read, it's from their childhood in Dayton, Ohio area to their present day in Montana. It's like they advise: Just buy the things that add value to your lives.


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## Slumber (Sep 26, 2014)

Been reading the Mins for while too. It's somehow very therapeutic getting rid of things you never use.


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## Lit Up (Sep 26, 2014)

LGT said:


> Consumerism. A word I often use around the holidays when retail America is trying to shove down your throat why it's absolutely necessary to buy the needles poop they're selling.



I tell people, no presents for me. If they absolutely insist, I'll accept a gas card or a gift card to a grocery, nothing more. You get use of it and then it's gone afterwards.


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## Lit Up (Sep 26, 2014)

Cataract said:


> I know some guys (from a multinational company I prefer not to mention) that do service calls all over the Americas and they pretty much spend their entire work weeks traveling to different places by plane. One of them just lives off his suitcase, staying wherever his last call was for the weekend. His belongings are all in that one suitcase.



He sounds like the actress who starred in _The Fault In Our Stars._ I read she bought a house in L.A., then turned around two months later and gave it away to her grandmother. She didn't care for living alone, and now all she owns is her laptop, cellphone and a suitcase of clothes. She just travels all other the country visiting family and friends.


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## Cataract (Sep 27, 2014)

Nice to see the thread is still alive. Not sure if I mentioned before, but I know quite a few guys who pretty much travel every week to do maintenance calls, installations and repairs. They have this co-worker who doesn't have a house, appartment, car or anything like that. His food, lodging and car are paid for week-long by the company since they are on the road all the time, and the plane ticket home on Friday, or from home on the Monday are paid for. With all accumulated travel cards points, he only pays for about 500$ a month in hotel expenses and mostly just stays where he is when the job is done on Fridays. Whenever he wishes, he can go visit his family on any given weekend and sleep there. He uses one family member's address for correspondence (likely the parents for driver's license, passport and all the likes), but never stays in one place more than 7 days in a row. 

Not the type of living most of us would hope for, but he does go round to the same places eventually and has friends there. In the end, he just lives off a couple of suitcases and feels fine with it, while putting a lot of money on the side. I just bet the day he decides he wants to stop that, he'll pay for a house in cash and never spend a weekend out of it other than for vacation on an island...


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## Sarratt (Oct 15, 2014)

Hello .... sorry if this was posted earlier ; Its a couple who have moved into a teeeny tiny house ( a shipping container) ....... I'd do it ,,maybe 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tiny-living-room-sized-home-attracts-ottawa-couple-1.2788229


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## Lit Up (Oct 25, 2014)

Sarratt said:


> Hello .... sorry if this was posted earlier ; Its a couple who have moved into a teeeny tiny house ( a shipping container) ....... I'd do it ,,maybe
> http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tiny-living-room-sized-home-attracts-ottawa-couple-1.2788229



Here in the U.S. they'd usually code you to death trying to have a dwelling that size. It's either get an RV and pay a good sum to park it at RV parks, move into a broom closet in Manhattan in a high rise, or get an oversized McMansion that you have 3 times the space necessary. But trying an independent 200 sqft dwelling in most cities will get frowned upon because god forbid you get something affordable and try to attain some security and financial peace of mind. The pre-2008 mindset is alive and well in most areas' codes/zoning rules. The banks usually won't touch you either if a loan is needed on such a dweling.


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## Monocrom (Oct 25, 2014)

Lit Up said:


> Here in the U.S. they'd usually code you to death trying to have a dwelling that size. It's either get an RV and pay a good sum to park it at RV parks, move into a broom closet in Manhattan in a high rise, or get an oversized McMansion that you have 3 times the space necessary. But trying an independent 200 sqft dwelling in most cities will get frowned upon because god forbid you get something affordable and try to attain some security and financial peace of mind. The pre-2008 mindset is alive and well in most areas' codes/zoning rules. The banks usually won't touch you either if a loan is needed on such a dweling.



I think the banks look at such dwellings as a trend that will not last, or that will be popular with a tiny segment of the population at best. (No profit in it for the banks to even bother making loans to those living in such structures.) Human nature being what it is, bankers know that a huge segment of the population would rather spend itself into massive debt than be financially secure in a small house or apartment, with a small Economy Car (or even no car at all). Unfortunately, they're right.


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## HarryN (Mar 11, 2015)

mcnair55 said:


> As much as you try you will fail,my suggestion put all your unwanted Euro coins in the little charity envelope usually provided in your seat pull down area where the in flight mag is,ask the trolley dolly for one if it is not there.



Actually, this has worked out pretty well. In the US I am still using just the 5 and 25 cent coins, and in the EU only the 5 cent, 20 cent, and 1 euro coins. The coin box stays remarkably organized, especially compared to the top of the desk.


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## bestellen (Mar 13, 2015)

It's doubtful this is the case for most minimalists, but I knew one who you couldn't stand having around. She would repeatedly praise herself for being a minimalist, but then ask everyone to borrow this or that. Want to be a minimalist? Be one! Just don't loudly proclaim to be one and then want to borrow my shirt, shoes, money, sunglasses, etc. after having dissed me for "having so much stuff."


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