Minimalism, and the minimalist lifestyle

[Oddsock]

Really great thread, TMedina!

I've been in my current apartment since 2008, so there has been a lot of accumulated s-t-u-f-f!

 

I want to pare down my clothes, books, and piles of papers especially. And my son has mentioned he'd like to give a lot of his older toys away.. we even put his old stuffed animals in a bag, but that's about as far as it's gotten..

[Sqthreer]

I've been undergoing a significant purge lately and have also been taking the idea of minimal living a little more seriously myself. I am even fantasizing about/planning to attempt a "van dwelling" experience. I didn't even realize it was a thing until after I slowly/suddenly became overwhelmed with the monotony in my life and the thought just came to me. I am fascinated by the idea and have been deeply yearning for something like it.

 

While I still have a fixed place of living, though, I've been finding a surprising amount of satisfaction in ridding myself of things as a jumping off point. A cold water toe-dipping, perhaps. Since about 95% of my belongings are from thrift stores and I proudly consider myself a thrift store connoisseur, I have the advantageous rationalisation of "if there comes a time when I need this thing, I'll just get another for three bucks" while I'm deciding to get rid of things.

 

Some achievements so far:

 

I have one glass pie plate that I use for general eating purposes (it has the security of a bowl but the accessibility of a plate), a small and a large glass measuring cup for liquid meals (seriously... try this. It is the way bowls should have been invented from the start. It has a handle for better bowl-grip while you're on-the-go, and a spout that serves as a stationary resting spot for your utensil, as well as a convenient and clean slurping mechanism.) One fork and one spoon. When I'm done with meals I just rinse off my dishes and within seconds my dishes are done. No more procrastinatory dish pile-ups or frustrating dried on food bits or not having any already clean spoons. This has become an everyday unburdening for me and I recommend it to anyone who can accommodate it (also if you don't mind the strange looks you'll get when you unprovokingly bring it up in conversation to demonstrate how unorthodox you are).

 

I now only have two pairs of pants (down from about 15) and three jackets (down from about 12... yeah I have a weird thing with jackets). And I am in the process of choosing two bath towels out of my six.

[TMedina]

I've lived out of a car before - I won't say it was a fun experience, nor by choice, but it can be done.  You might find reading the blogs/articles about "one backpack traveling" to be educational.

 

And I love the glass pie plate thing; it used to be my default "go to" dish.  If you want something similar that isn't as fragile as glass but shares many of the same features, check out Snow Peak's tableware dish.

[kaelvan]

I love how many sub-reddits there are. There's even one for minimalism and living out of one bag.

[TMedina]

Ooooh...must find! 

 

EtA: for the curious: https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/

[Nubbins McGee]

I can't pack for a 5 day trip to America in one bag. I'm currently hanging my head in shame

I moved to Germany for three years with one bag.

(I came back with considerably more)

[Nubbins McGee]

I went for the same reason.

[Dradis]

I moved to Germany for three years with one bag.

(I came back with considerably more)

 

Its my goal to emigrate with not a great deal more than that to be honest. Shipping stuff costs. Although there are a few things i won't get rid of that i will have to ship.

[TMedina]

Letting go, a mantra

 

• I've had this for more than a year
• I haven't needed it, nor used it, in that year
• Someone else can benefit from this
• I gain nothing from keeping it
• It costs me to keep it for no reason
• This has no real purpose in my life
• I am taking control of my life by letting go of false attachments

[fengor]

Sometimes there are old clothes collection around here. You usually find a plastic bag in your postbox with instructions  on ehwn they come around to collect it in your postbox. You are free to donate or to ignore it. This time Ifilled my plastic bag and it will go out tonight to be collected.

[ch3]

I was homeless for a while and I very quickly took up a minimal lifestyle. It was liberating.

 

I had a similiar life experience, currently I live in a ultra tiny studio ( 3,5m x 2,5m plus bathroom) and I don't have many and I love this tiny place. I only complain that the bed takes a lot of space (and I love lofts), so once I get a furniture like the one bellow, i'll be awesome.

 

 

 

 

Actually, i'm into tiny stuff, check out this board on my pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ch3jose/small-living/

 

 

How did you feel when you became not-homeless?  Did you maintain the minimal lifestyle?  Or shift back?

 

This question wasn't for me, but I feel like to reply it, well, that was a really nice sensation, the first time I rented a room, It was a nice experience, it included a bed, I was ultra happy with it, I was going to have four walls, a roof and a bed for myself only! 

 

I didn't have anything with me, my laptop with it bag and 2 bags with clothes and stuff.

 

Few years latter things have improved, but I keep it minimalist:

 

I rented this tiny studio, and I only bought a desk and a chair for work.

 

I still don't own my home but once I be able to get one, I want to build it and I'll tiny for sure. My dream house is a mix of the pictures in the pinterest board I shared before.

 

 

And why I keep it minimalist?

 

I want to be a digital nomad, so, own much stuff doesn't makes sense.

The less space, and the less stuff you own, the less you have to clean and organize!

 

And I learnt that the fact that your space is small, doesn't mean that it has to be uncomfortable, actually small places are cozy. 

 

I like to think outside the box. 

 

Oh, did I mention less money expenses?

[kaelvan]

Omg I love those tiny homes. Even since I saw this home this Swedish designer made, I been in a love affair ever since.

So I started doing major cleaning. Hopefully I can get rid of lot more stuff than I have. I found my old sewing machine and earring so far.

[alienjenn]

SO excited... oldest son will be moving out in april... I have been taking TONNES of stuff out of my cupboards to give him to put in a box to take with him... AND daughter child just turned 16.... so many things I keep pulling out of the cupboard and saying "if you love this and want to keep it you can remove it from circulation, if I find it in the kitchen it's going to goodwill, OR you can put it in the donation bag now"

 

 

 

SO MUCH GONE!!!!

[Rurik Harrgath]

I stumbled onto a minimalism page on Facebook (and then another, and another) and have been studying their philosophy and tips.  For me it is less about freeing my mind than it is of lessening my physical burdens.  I don't like clutter though I'm terribly guilty of it, I can't stand filthy dishes nor do I enjoy washing them, and honestly I have found my way into enjoying trinkets far too much over the years. 

 

As of late I have yet to start an all-out purge but I have been slowly pruning away, getting rid of things here and there.  Many items have ended up on the local equivalent of Craigslist, others to donation and still others to Ye Ole Garbage.

 

February is going to be my purge month.  I don't have a lot of personal belongings living in a smaller apartment like others here, but I could still stand to eliminate a lot.

 

I really like this ebook: http://nopcode.org/mp3/TALLER/minimalist_guide.pdf but there are literally heaps of articles and blogs relating to minimalism that I've combed over recently.

[TMedina]

Purging is relative.  If you start thinking you need to make massive, sweeping changes, tiny parts of you will rebel and, for myself, get lost in anxiety.  I've been working gradually, selecting things and putting them in a box and gently, slowly coaxing my proverbial grip off of them.

 

Hypothetically, with this approach, I'll be at ease and fully support the decision, rather than resenting a forced "decision by necessity" which might lead to further indulgences down the road.

 

EtA: that's a cool e-book.  I think I have it linked in the myriad pool of resources on the first page - if not that book, then one very similar to it.

[kaelvan]

Been purging for few hours now. And holy tolito I've never seen some of these spots being this clean. I think may need clean the walls since spots are the only thing left. That and that flower reef.

The room looks so much bigger and barely scratched the surface on what needs to go.

[kaelvan]

I never even realized how much clothes don't wear. I actually made a system for the possibly keep clothes if I wear any of them, that one stays.So I'm giving month and a half for them to stay.

[Rurik Harrgath]

I finally tackled my trinket box tonight... found a few things to sell, some to garbage, and even more that I have no idea what to do with.  Humans are such terribly tedious and sentimental beings!

[alienjenn]

when I first started I had to hide stuff that I was purging from the kids... and do it SUPER gradual... no more than one or two things at a time...

 

the other day I swept through the kitchen and got rid of probably 50 things (granted MOST of it went in boxes in the kids closets for them to take with them when they move) and they were all excited about it... 

[Jammer]

Family of 5 in a 2500 square foot house, here. We keep the clutter down better than most but throw a lot of stuff away all the time. Kids outgrow clothes and their interests change over the years.

I occasionally travel around in an Airstream trailer. They are not large and have relatively little storage even by RV standards so that provides a time to reflect and consider which things matter and which do not.

There's a lot of stuff that we don't use daily that we don't want to get rid of for various reasons:

- Seasonal decorations

- Dishes and serving utensils for serving groups as large as 16. We use this stuff several times a year

- Tools and supplies of various kinds. I do my own car repairs, air compressor, welding gear, jacks, small tools; similarly for plumbing and carpentry

- Musical instruments including several keyboards. They all get played but not every day

- Landscape maintenance equipment of various kinds, including the chainsaw in the photo.

Sure, there are a few mathoms in there but they're the minority.

[TMedina]

New book recommendation: "You can buy happiness (and it's cheap!)" by Tammy Strobel.  She also has a blog: Rowdy Kittens.

 

I checked this out from the library and I really liked it.  I like it enough to add it to my collection for later reference.  A lot of the content is similar to other minimalist books, which I think speaks more of the commonalities people experience rather than duplication of material.  But I also like her writing style more - it feels like you're along for the ride as she sorts through her life and experiences her epiphanies.

 

Overall, definitely a softer touch and more than a couple examples spoke to me personally - particularly the section on the concept of loss and one reason why we're so reluctant to part with something we're not using and will likely never use.  "Throwing good money after bad", in a nutshell.

[TMedina]

Decluttering.  Using one or more methods to reduce the clutter in your space and in your life.

 

Clutter can be easily defined as mess or perhaps too much mess.  So much mess that it spills over into our lives and takes on a life of its own, stealing from our lives in the progress.

 

I started this thread with minimalism.  After spending time thinking, and reading, I realize I picked the wrong word to use.

 

We all want to declutter our lives, and minimalism is one of many possible ways to do that.

 

So, how do we declutter?  It depends on the clutter and how it impacts our lives.  Perhaps we simply have too much stuff.  If it's stuff we legitimately need, we need to look at space, organization, and storage.  If it's stuff we don't need, perhaps we need to look at reducing and removing stuff from our lives.  Simplify, simplify, simplify.

 

In many respects, decluttering can be seen as going from a very complicated mess to a very simple lack of mess.  Which tends to dovetail nicely into minimalism, or at least a wary attitude towards our society built on rampant consumerism.  But in trying to articulate these half-formed thoughts, I sketched out this basic diagram which shows the interconnected relationship of stuff in our lives - the more stuff you have, the more organization you need to keep it from becoming clutter, and the more complicated your life becomes.  

 

 

The more stuff we have, the more organization you need to keep your stuff from becoming clutter.

 

I recently moved, and had a fair amount of my stuff stolen (rage, rage, grudging acceptance, grumble), so I have a fairly opportune moment to start over, almost from scratch, in the hows and wherefores of building a household and being comfortable in it.

[Emma]

The life changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo.

She is from Japan and has a very different take on de cluttering. Dont be rational and logical, go by your feelings. Does this item spark joy when you touch it? If it does, keep it. If it doesn't give it away. The life changing magic is that once you have gone through your home and are surrounded only by things that spark joy, you know who you are.

Wonderful book, I highly recommend it and her philosophy.

[dijos]

although I don't consider myself a minimalist by any means, we are a family 0f 4 in a 900 sq ft house, plus a dog. 

[WillToPower]

I've flirted with the idea for some time now, if not of outright minimalism, then at the very least a lifestyle where I have significantly less than I have now.
I often ask myself a bunch of questions: "Why buy DVDs that I might never actually watch when services like Netflix and Crunchyroll exist?", "Why buy CDs, when I'm inevitably going to rip it onto iTunes anyway?", "Why buy a book that I'll only read once if the series is legitimately available online or through the library?", "Why do I have so many clothes that I don't wear?", "Why do I buy stuff, only for it to collect dust?", "I've already beaten these video games, why do I still keep them around if I'm never going to play them again?", etc.

 

I have vague plans and ideas that involve me sorting through my stuff and figuring out what I actually need and/or want to keep. One such plan is eventually going through Netflix's catalog with a friend and figuring out which movies I do/don't need to keep around in physical form. Regardless, I'm still in the vague "I want to do the thing" stage when it comes to this; the idea comes to mind often enough that I don't think this is a passing fling.

 

I guess I'm going to need to start looking through this thread for ideas.

I'm glad to know that there are resources out there for people who are interested.