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I've noticed a couple of people scattered throughout this forum mention minimalism and the minimalist lifestyle in passing, for various reasons. Sometimes because of an upcoming move, or sometimes from a desire to slim down the amount of chaos material stuff tends to bring into their lives. I've flirted with the idea quite often - often from necessity, and most recently from an expected move. It took the looming threat of a move to realize that, push come to shove, I could load a backpack and be gone, but holy carp - where did all this stuff come from? To that end, I wanted to start a thread and share some references for others who want to do some reading, do some research, or just stick a toe into the philosophical waters and see how it feels. There is a fair amount of similarity to Buddhism in regard to viewing how possessions influence our lives and our happiness. I mention that out of a sense of full disclosure, but one need not adopt Buddhism or Zen philosophy to appreciate the tenets presented in the minimalist lifestyle. Certain principles like: if you haven't worn it in a year, why is it in your closet? That's a tough one to answer objectively. Emotionally, there are a variety of answers to be had - some good, some not so much. The flip side of minimalism, which is one possible goal - is understanding how and why we got here. That is an entirely separate post, but speaking for myself, I find impulse shopping as a means of staying entertained at work to be a major contributor, followed closely by "wow, that's a really good deal!" syndrome, and "huh, I bet that would be really useful and it's on sale!" disorder. I mention this only because while minimalism may be the answer to some problems in your life (most notably, too much stuff), it is exceedingly helpful to understand how and why we ended up where we are now. All that said: of this list - there are many books, but I'm only listing the two I have read, or am reading, and recommend them: Books: Websites, blogs, oh my: These are websites I've found from idle Googling (wow, it's a verb), as well as referrals from other sites, authors, links, and so on. I haven't vetted them and as such, some may be more helpful than others - although what may be helpful for me, may not be so for you. And vice versa. Articles of Interest Minimalist, "one bag" traveling Forums: Reddit: Minimalism Cleaning, Organizing, and other costs of stuff: Unfreak your Habitat -some cussing involved, you have been warned. EtA: True to form, I had an idea and I scrambled to get it out there without taking time to revise it, or critique it for improvement. As time passes and more ideas occur to me, I will be changing the first post to reflect a better presentation and delivery format, rather than just throwing out an entire mass of information from a fire hose. Hence, the addition of spoiler tags to help pare down (in the minimalism thread, natch) the amount of material you're being doused with. EtA: And I may be abusing the hell out of spoiler tags. Sorry.

Hi, I'm Naxius and I live in a clusterfuck. I'll fancify this post later. For now, a quick Google search for "negative effects of clutter" or anything along those lines is all that's necessary to know that excessive clutter in one's living space is bad. You know, if the "ugh!" feeling in the pit of your stomach when you walk into a room filled to the brim with excessive, unorganized, and unnecessary bullshit isn't enough to make you realize it. Decluttering has been a side goal in most of my challenges ever since I joined NF in mid-2013. The common theme in all these previous decluttering attempts was failure, with a side dish of frustration. For some reason, I just couldn't make myself do things--cleaning up and throwing things away included. My mind operates in mysterious ways. Sometimes, things just "click" seemingly out of nowhere, and I become motivated to do a thing. In 2002, it was the beginning of my physical fitness journey. In 2004, it was the sudden desire to upgrade my high school marks and go to university. Now it's the overwhelming urge to declutter the entire fucking house. The main goal for my current challenge was to clean my room, a task I have been attempting to accomplish since...1995? There have been setbacks in this month's challenge so far because I live with my parents (yay, student loans!) and decluttering efforts often depend on more than one person, but my desire to slay the clutter demons has not faltered. THIS WILL BE DONE! And this will be fun. To make it even more fun, I am inviting everyone who has too much clutter in their lives to join me in the quest to get rid of things. The rules are as follows: 1. Score one point for each item you throw away, donate, set on fire, or get rid of in any way. Any potentially usable item that gets thrown out or donated counts as a point. For example, an old t-shirt that gets thrown into the trash bin counts as one point because the t-shirt could still be used as a pajama top, or to do chores around the house where one might get dirty. The shirt is not useless, but it's clutter and just taking up space at this point. Another example would be a half-empty or near-empty shampoo bottle. There is still some shampoo in it, and it could still be used, but it's not that great for your hair, or you don't like the way it smells, or you already bought a different shampoo that's better, etc. The point that the bottle has potential usefulness but is just sitting there taking up space. Tossing it into the trash will be one point. Tossing a shampoo bottle into the trash if it has no potential usefulness usually happens automatically, and therefore would not count as one point. Or at least I don't count it as one point. Some empty containers/bottles may be counted if they could potentially be used as storage containers or re-used in some way. The choice of whether or not to count it is up to you. tl;dr version: only count items that have potential usefulness. Trash that missed the bin and has been sitting there for a while doesn't count. But...it is also true that some players spawn in areas that contain more low-level bad guys. If someone starts CLUTTERBUSTER in a hoarders-level of an area and there are piles upon piles of trash all over the place, then counting pieces of trash is acceptable, where ten pieces of trash = one point, as this can help generate momentum. 2. (Coming soon) Percentage score based on how many rooms in your living space are clutter-free. 3. Multiplayer mode! Family members or roommates can join your party. Simply ask them to keep count of the things they throw away. For the purpose of score-keeping, players with multiplayer parties will have their scores in red. It's that simple. Post a reply to this thread to record your clutter kills. Keep track of your total on every post in order to avoid losing count. Before and after pictures are also encouraged, as is writing about your decluttering exploits in an epic, fantastic manner. Who can slay the most Clutter Critters?? Scores (last updated April 8)

Looking for a new pair of sandals for the summer. Got a pair of Teva Zilch a few years ago and LOVE them. Loved them to death in fact - the bottoms are worn smooth and have become a slick slipping hazard after any amount of rain. Sadly it looks like Teva no longer makes them, so I need to find a new brand. Looking to walk in them - mostly pavement, some basic trails. My preference is for something that straps around my feet rather than a flip flop style, and less than $100. Any recommendations for brands sandals are greatly appreciated.

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300 More This challenge cycle is all about building on the momentum I recovered during last challenge to prep for this year’s race season. On the calendar so far: March US Road Running Pirate Virtual 5kLadies First 5kApril Spaceballs Virtual 5kECU Color Run 5kMay North Face Endurance Race 5kSpartan SprintJune Savage RaceJuly Rugged ManiacAugust NoneSeptember NoneOctober NoneNovember Tough MudderDecember NoneThere are quite a few races I’m keeping an eye on for official date announcements, and I want to find 1 more OCR to do. The goal is to do 5 OCRs + at least 1 5k per month. Maybe a 10k if the Oakley Women’s Only happens again this year. On months with no OCRs, I need to up my strength training and complete more races. Goal 1: Fitness I feel like I need to continue with strength training/maybe focus on it more, but I really like bodyweight work. So, I think I’ll continue on with the HIIT/tabata style workouts I did last challenge through my PopSugar challenge + continue to work in cardio sessions on the treadmill. Those hill days are killer, but I know they’re doing me some good. I also need to buckle down and focus on getting that damn pull-up before my 1st OCR of the year. Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended 64 ounces. I track food with My Fitness Pal and need to find a good balance with apps to track sleep/water/exercise. Last year I had a Fitbit - since it decided to jump off my wrist, I’ve replaced it with a Misfit Flash, but am currently having issues getting the new majigger to play nice with all the apps it needs to be able to talk to. Weight and BF are still being tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. I also use a combo of FitBit + Zombies, Run! To track my quickly moving through space workouts if they're in the wide world. If I venture into the wide world, that is. Goal 3: Get Stuff Done I have so many little tasks I want to complete. On the top of the list: finish getting my old family pictures, etc. boxed up and sent off for digitization, finishing my ombre scarf knitting project, continue to weed out possessions I really don’t care about but feel pressured to keep. Also, I need to work to plug all my clothing into the Stylebook app, so I can get some good metrics/help realize my minimalist goals. Goal 4: Get Out Of My Comfort Zone I’ve been doing really well with this over the past few challenges, and I need to be mindful of continuing down this track. The goal is to do 1 thing that forces me out of my schedule/hermit lifestyle a week. Meetups, book clubs, Facebook group meets, workout classes, or sportsy outings in places that aren’t my house are good, as is going out and exploring things on my own when the hubbs isn’t home on weekends. Lunch by myself out - very uncomfortable, especially when not submerged in my phone, but good for me.

Ok, so no theme this time. I thought about a Friday The 13th thing, but finding appropriate/fitnessy memes sounded exhausting. So: dragons. Dragons are always good. Plus, this way I get to search for dragons every morning before jumping into work. Booonus! Deviant Art, here I come! Overarching Goal Hasn't changed - still trying to get my body comp where I want it through tight-ish metrics + building strength to be able to do all the OCR-related things I want to do. I realize I *could* accomplish this goal faster by adhering to stricter weekend metrics and incorporating more intense workouts, but I'm lazy at heart - let's just stick to doing what I can do and to upping the baseline intensity level, rather than attacking a heavy-duty something all at once and fizzling out because no one's watching/my program has ended/I lose interest. Goal 1: Fitness I actually didn't do bad on my 'choose your own adventure' workout schedule last challenge, much to my shock. So … I'm going to go down that track a little further. I still want to work on doing an unassisted pull-up, I think the Spartan 30 challenges are kind of fun, the Spartan daily WODs are good for me (but intimidating), I love me some nerdy bodyweight routines, HasFit is fantastic, and I want to continue on with the mix of cardio/bodyweight/light weights/specific movements/yoga I'm already doing and see where that gets me. I'll be pulling from: Spartan WODs, HasFit, Neila Rey, and other places as I see them - my yoga class, for sure. Upcoming Races: Merrill Down N' Dirty OCR - October 5 Color Run 5k - October 18 Goal 2: Metrics Metrics make me happy and they work for me, so I'm sticking with them. As a refresher, my metrics are: 100 grams or under of carbs, 70 grams or over of protein, under 100 grams of fat and around 1500 calories. Water is the recommended by FitBit 64 ounces, and on the weekends I like my step count to be over FitBit’s recommended 10,000. I track food with My Fitness Pal and exercise, sleep and water with the FitBit Flex. Weight and BF are tracked with my FitBit Aria scale. FitBit. I also use a combo of FitBit + Runkeeper + Zombies, Run! To track my workouts, though I'm thinking of dropping Runkeeper and who knows what will happen when iOS8 and the new Apple Health comes out. I'm sure I'll be jumping at least some of these ships in favor of that, if it's as awesome as advertised. Goal 3: Get Your Shit Together I need to. I'm a grown-ass adult with responsibilities, short people that might notice if I no longer exist, and family members that totally don't want to deal with the headache of slogging through my shit should I croak unexpectedly. I should have a will made out. And know where all my important documents are located. To this end, the goal is to fill out the Get Your Shit Together stuff + enter all my other important crap into Evernote so I can actually find it (like my marriage license and the deed to my house - which may or may not be in a box at the bottom of one of my closets. Maybe I'll finally get that fireproof box my hubby has been wanting for years. UPDATE: GYST LIST Week 1: Will Week 2: Living Will Week 3: Life Insurance Week 4: Money Week 5: Details Week 6: Personal Items Other Goals Whittle more things out of the house - I'd like to clear enough off of a bookcase to get rid of it. This is going to take action, rather than planning. Continue the leaving my house on weekdays to at least think about being social trend.Work on the damn scarf I've been knitting for 2 years now. Finish before Spring? Continue streamlining my wardrobe/getting rid of shit I don't need/getting things that are too big for me altered so they're not wasting space/get the shoes I need cobbled cobbled.Drag the clothes I'm donating out of the closets they came out of out the door and to the donation place. Even if that means I have to backpack clothes out in batches every week on the way to the grocery store. Quit being lazy. This is a nebulous goal - more of a goalposts goal. I'll be reporting on progress, but won't be including this in my overall grading scheme. You know what? Screw that. This is a real goal. Worth up to 5 points. Internal dialogue edit: This is not a hard goal to accomplish in the grand scheme of life. Quit being lazy, dammit. Risk Internet failure less than a perfect grade. Now drop and give me burpees.

So, now that the ship is all sparkly clean like, our resident Preacher said that we have a lot of goods. He suggested that we clean up our act a bit, remove what's not needed in our lives, and in general pare everything down to our essentials. What can you see in your life that really is just taking up space and you can actually live without? Take time sometime during the rest of the week, and find a room in your house/apartment/condo/Firefly class ship, clean it up, and try to clear out anything which is no longer needed. If you're comfortable, post before and after pictures of the room in question, so we can marvel at the shiny. Now if you excuse me, I'll be in my bunk. That place is a mess and needs to be cleaned thoroughly.

A. Mother. Rucking. Lion. I live a minimalist, bike-only lifestyle.I'm continuing my life quest to be an Urban Ranger.GoRuck Light Phoenix.Quest: become the lion.RuckRuck w/ZARUB (1 mile + [1 mile X week #]) ≥ 2x weekly.TrainingGo Ruck PT w/ZARUB ≥ 3x weekly following MARSOC.PaleoFind and define a paleo diet that works for me.PlanWrite out a detailed and specific 5 year plan.RewardUpdatesDay 1Day 2Day 15Day 21

Loren Wade's Urban Ranger Challenge 2 I'm continuing my life quest to be an Urban Ranger.I live a minimalist, bike-only lifestyle.I'm enduring the Wholetexalypse for 4T.I'm preparing for Go Ruck, but Tough Mudder, and Spartan are coming along too.I am kicking off this challenge with my childhood anthem, going back to my minimalist roots, embracing my jack-of-all-trades personality, and my ever-growing desire to be a Ranger in the modern world. Quest: prepare for Go Ruck.RuckRuck 6 bricks + water (1 mile + [.5 mile X week #]) ≥ 2x weekly.PTGo Ruck PT ≥ 2x weekly via MARSOC.Move​Bike, hike, ruck, run, or walk 1 hour weekly.​Reward​> 80% = arrow tee​Updates​Day 0

Loren Wade's Urban Ranger Mini Challenge The TL;DRLast challenge, I was an Urban Ranger.I live a minimalist, bike-only lifestyle.I'm enduring the Wholetexalypse for 4T.I'm running to prepare for Go Ruck, Tough Mudder, and Spartan.Ranger, Run! Run 3x per week.Ranger, Rest! Reacclimate to a biking commute. Hakuna Matata!

I have been trying to get into doing things more barefoot. Since it is getting cold, I was looking for a good pair of minimalist shoes. Everyone recommends the five fingers, but I have abnormally long toes and they just don't fit. I was wondering about other options and came across ZEM. Does anyone know anything about them?

So I have a few goals in mind that are not very related, but together should make for quite the well rounded assassin. They are also more of a pass/fail nature and a little on the aggressive side but I want that. Goal 1- Do a muscle up. The plan to reach this is going to be GTG on pull ups and movements geared towards achieveing this. Even if just a little bit a day. If I do one I get all points 5-STR. If I make a great effort on working towards it, but fall short- 2 STR. If I totally bail- 0 STR Goal 2- Reaclimate my legs to minimalist footwear for my runs. This goal the plan is to make all my short runs (non-running partner runs) in vibrams. And My running partner runs in my Inov-8 shoes that have a minimal heel/toe drop. If I can go more than 2 6+ mile runs in vibrams by end of challenge 4-STA, 2 runs of 5+ miles 3 STA, consistent runs of 4 miles 2-STA. Anything less, 0-STA Goal 3- Lean up. I want to drop a little bf% I'll take measurements & decide what % to shoot for. No time this weekend for measuring, I'll have my friend measure me at some point this week. down more than 2% 3-CON, down 1-2% 2 CON, down less than 1% 1-CON (yes I realize the accuracy range might be a factor in this) Level up life goal- Ceiling up & dry wall mudded in the back room remodel. Ceiling up, all mudding, sanding done 3-WIS Ceiling up, mudded but not final sanded 2-WIS, ceiling up, no mudding 1 WIS

Loren Wade's Routine Challenge My last challenge was minimalism: I redesigned my living space, switched to a standing desk, sold 90% of my belongings, and sold my car in favor of biking. I currently lack overall discipline in healthy habits and a routine. This challenge will be focused on leveling up my life by following a loose schedule, eating right more often, writing again, and learning self defense.The Life Habit3 Hours Distraction-Free Writing WeeklyThe Fitness HabitsStronglifts 3x WeeklyKrav Maga 2x WeeklyThe Nutrition HabitPaleoLean Gains.Clean Paleo + Whey and Rice.Weekly Cookups.Nightly: Fish oil, Vitamin D, Natural Calm.​​​UpdatesMinimalism Room Before/After​Day 0Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7Day 8Day 9Day 10Day 11Day 12Day 13Day 14Day 15Day 16Day 17Day 18Day 19Day 20Day 21Day 22Day 23Day 24Day 25Day 26Day 27Day 28Day 29Day 30