Author Topic: Minimalism  (Read 7681 times)

frugalkristen

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Minimalism
« on: February 27, 2017, 03:25:21 PM »
Not sure if this is the right place for this but is anyone here a minimalist?  I don't really like lots of stuff but don't consider myself a minimalist.  My 21 yr old daughter has been looking into all of this a lot and decided she was done with stuff.  She donated many items to friends and charities.  She was tired of cleaning and organizing stuff.  She started a Project 333 clothing challenge.  And she asked me not to buy her stuff for Christmas (she knows I plan all year to find great deals for Christmas presents).  She wants experiences instead (Last Christmas, I drove 11 hours to spend Christmas with her - I'm thinking of doing this again.  This time with no presents.  Instead we'll see more of Nashville!).  It makes me want to get rid of more stuff (as I said, I don't have lots of stuff!).  Thoughts?

recklesslysober

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2017, 05:52:55 PM »
My thought: hard to argue with more experiences and time, and less clutter and stress. :) If you want a great introduction to minimalism there's a documentary called Minimalism on Netflix (you can also get it on Vimeo and a few other places). It has quite a few perspectives from a variety of people - neuroscientist, sociologist, author, parent, etc.

Drole

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2017, 07:17:20 PM »
I'm not at all a minimalist.  But we got rid of 75% of our stuff a couple of years ago.  Now that we are settling down again, I'm loving having empty cabinets and drawers. 

ex: I have two drawers of clothes now plus 3 coats in the closet, and this is more than I need/use.  (OK, there are some random items still packed away, but....)  This is down from 5 jam-packed drawers plus a double closet filled with all sorts of stuff.  Things wear out now.  And I replace them without feeling like I'm shopping to shop. 

I now use nearly all the stuff in my kitchen regularly.

I'm trying to keep it simple as we'll probably try airbnb sometime and I don't want to have to remove a bunch of stuff. 

I've always gravitated towards experiences as gifts.  My folks have everything they need, so I started buying them tickets to the symphony about 10 years ago.  They love it.   

anyway not really an answer, but 2-cents.

lemonverbena

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2017, 09:31:43 PM »
I'd consider myself as having a lifelong inclination toward minimalism. And yet when I look around, I'm still surrounded by so much stuff that accumulates as one starts a family and buys a home. I am in a constant state of evaluating our possessions. But for the first time just a few minutes ago, I finished the 100 Thing Challenge (reducing your personal, non-shared belongings to 100 things). I easily had sixty or so things to cull! Things I don't even see and I'm usually looking. (Btw, I didn't get exactly to 100... it's an arbitrary number and not the point).
It can be hard to draw a line sometimes, between craving austerity and also wanting a cozy family home for my children's sake. People say minimalism can bring peace from no longer seeking fulfillment from more stuff, but some may suffer from a reverse dissatisfaction of never seeming to reach as little possessions as possible, as well.

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2017, 03:32:48 AM »
I'm working on minimizing the amount of stuff I have. I've always enjoyed a minimal modern aesthetic for design, but have only recently begun to reduce my number of belongings. As a homeowner, there are many items I won't be able to eliminate. Tools are one such thing. I have tools I don't use often, but when I need them, they are a life saver and can save me from having to call someone to do a repair for me.

Mostly, I've just been trying to get rid of old furniture, boxes and packaging for things we won't be able to sell or return, and old gadgets we haven't been parting with because we think might be able to use it someday. Someday never comes.

At this point, since I know I won't be able to get to some crazy small number of belongings, I'm trying to make sure what I do buy is genuinely useful and of good quality. I don't want to have to rebuy something because I cheaped out the first time.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2017, 03:09:50 AM by mies »

Mongoose

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2017, 08:03:35 AM »
We've been purging and decluttering for about 2 years. Nowhere near minimalist (yet...evil grin) because my family isn't on board. We have gotten down to the point where most of what we do have is in use at least occasionally.

KMMK

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2017, 08:33:07 AM »
I'm a non-practicing minimalist. I'd have very little (and have in the past) but my husband has a lot of stuff that I use and I have stuff for work that I need until I'm retired.

FireHiker

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2017, 09:50:21 AM »
I am a minimalist at heart, but I have a long way to go in practice. We have been steadily donating/getting rid of stuff, but it seems like we hardly make a dent. In the past year we have done a LOT more travel, and my husband and I have talked about finances and plans a LOT. I think we are finally to the point where we are mostly on the same page. I have been pushing to move to a smaller house, or at least get him to think about it, for over a year now (we have been here 4 years). Our house is an outrageous 3690 square feet, not including the 3 car garage (at least we can park 2 cars in it, which is more than can be said for many of our neighbors). Let's just say with two 6-figure incomes, we succumbed to lifestyle inflation big time. At least we caught the market in 2012 so we have made out very nicely on the investment, but I would give up half the space in a heartbeat!

Over the weekend, after returning from a family ski trip, he said out of the blue "so, when IS a good time to jump from this house?". Dealing with the yard work and pool maintenance on a nice Saturday must have left its mark on him I guess. And then this morning, he tripped over something in the office on our way out the door, and I said "we have too much stuff in this house" and he actually said "yeah, I know." So, we have a long way to go, but hopefully we can make a big push towards minimalism this year.

PJ

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2017, 10:14:03 AM »
I think I am actually fairly non-minimalist at heart.  I'm a collector.  And a visual person, so I like to *see* my stuff around me.  I like the look of walls with lots of paintings and photos and prints clustered together, so there's always something to look at. 

But.

I am changing.  I guess I'm like jillinsandiego's husband, moving slowly in a more minimalist direction.  I'd like to pare down enough that the things I want to see stand out, are able to do so, rather than blending in with the cluttered background.

Road42

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2017, 12:29:27 PM »
I am certainly a minimalist in that I hate owning things that we don't use or feeling hemmed in by objects.

But, that being said, I am a fairly visual person, as well as an amateur artist. I love to have art on the walls (the whole family is creative, so we have a lot of their art. Also we tend to buy at student art shows since we can't swing the professional stuff price-wise).

But open any of our closets or drawers and there is a ton of space because we don't accumulate clothes or household goods or toys. We have one set of sheets for each bed, for instance, and one set of towels per person. I looked at the 333 challenge when I heard about it - and it turned out I've already been living it for years.

I also prefer experiences or consumables to objects when getting or giving gifts.

englishteacheralex

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2017, 12:34:40 PM »
We are a family of four living in Honolulu in an 850 square foot condo. So circumstances conspire to keep us minimalist. 1. Everything costs a lot here due to shipping, so we aren't tempted to buy a lot. 2. We don't have room to store anything. 3. Everything fun to do is outside, so we don't need lots of indoor stuff to keep the kids happy.

With kid stuff--once we are done with something we pass it along immediately. Our friends do the same for us. My 2 month old daughter is screaming right now from a swing that has been passed around to four families and now has made it back to us. Gotta go comfort her.

Classical_Liberal

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2017, 01:06:01 PM »
I relocate for work every 3-12 mos.  I,ve pruned my possessions down to what fits in an old chevy astro van for transport. It's enough to sparsely furnish a studio/small 1bed apartment, h everything I actually use on a weekly basis, and a tote of more personal items.  Occasionally I'll pick up some extra stuff if I stay too long in one location, but invariably, it or something else has to go before I move again.  I love lack of stuff, the only thing more freeing would be FI.

vodsonic

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2017, 02:42:41 PM »
I would love to be a minimalist. :D

I frequently engage in deep soul-searching to determine which handful out of the thousands of carefully curated books, LP records, and CDs I should get rid of as a baby step towards that seemingly unreachable goal.

And that's without even scratching the surface on hand tools or vintage hi-fi gear.

firelight

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #13 on: March 01, 2017, 08:48:34 PM »
We are aspiring minimalists. I jumped on the konmari bandwagon when my kid was six months old and I was thoroughly disgusted by the amount of stuff we had everywhere and the amount of time needed to maintain them along with two full-time jobs and a baby that demanded constant attention. We've sold/donated by the car loads and are very conscious of what we buy new. However, I'm now seeing we can let go of more since we have a long move coming up in a few months and we'd be well advised to carry as little as we can.

Slinky

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #14 on: March 03, 2017, 05:03:16 PM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

DailyGrindFree

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #15 on: March 03, 2017, 05:23:53 PM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy.

horsepoor

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #16 on: March 03, 2017, 06:10:09 PM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy.

I wonder how they figure that?  Like, is a thumbtack an item?

I am not really a minimalist, but like many other posters, I tend towards useful items.  Over the last couple years, I have really pruned non-useful things, so any decorative items I don't love are gone. I more or less did the KonMari thing and got rid of things that didn't spark joy, and organized the things I deemed worth keeping.  We have a big clown house, so I'm very comfortable with the amount of stuff in it, but would/will need to prune if we downsize in the future.  The side benefit of all of this is avoiding things like purchasing a second storage shed.  Post-decluttering, there is ample storage space in the existing shed, so that's $2,000 saved.  DH is not so inclined to get rid of things, but he has some designated areas for his crap, and I'll put my foot down if it starts to creep out of those areas. Luckily, he doesn't acquire that much, so it's a slow creep, but he still has his giant guitar amp from college that hasn't worked in 15 years and that sort of thing.

I suppose compared to many of our neighbors we are minimalists though, because both of our cars fit in the garage!

JoshuaSpodek

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2017, 07:04:31 PM »
Driving 11 hours sounds like a lot of pollution. Not counting pollution that you stick other people with sounds like a company being profitable by externalizing costs like cleaning up its pollution.

Someone still has to deal with it.

DailyGrindFree

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2017, 08:23:24 PM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy.

I wonder how they figure that?  Like, is a thumbtack an item?

I am not really a minimalist, but like many other posters, I tend towards useful items.  Over the last couple years, I have really pruned non-useful things, so any decorative items I don't love are gone. I more or less did the KonMari thing and got rid of things that didn't spark joy, and organized the things I deemed worth keeping.  We have a big clown house, so I'm very comfortable with the amount of stuff in it, but would/will need to prune if we downsize in the future.  The side benefit of all of this is avoiding things like purchasing a second storage shed.  Post-decluttering, there is ample storage space in the existing shed, so that's $2,000 saved.  DH is not so inclined to get rid of things, but he has some designated areas for his crap, and I'll put my foot down if it starts to creep out of those areas. Luckily, he doesn't acquire that much, so it's a slow creep, but he still has his giant guitar amp from college that hasn't worked in 15 years and that sort of thing.

I suppose compared to many of our neighbors we are minimalists though, because both of our cars fit in the garage!

The garage thing really kills me. The whole purpose of the garage is to keep the car inside when it is really really cold outside. I know enough people who cannot park their cars in the garage. I don't get it.

Having said that, I have a three-car-garage and I only have two cars. :-) And I can probably park 4 cars in it. LOL. To be fair, I am planning on downsizing. Life is funny like that.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2017, 08:49:14 PM by DailyGrindFree »

halftimer

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2017, 10:33:13 PM »
Aspiring minimalist here*. We are being very careful about what we buy or what we choose to accept for free or as gifts, and have done that for a few years at least. Can't think of anything either of us want as presents or purchases, and somehow even though we have stemmed much of the flow of what comes in, it still seems that we have so much to give and share!  For example we have never bought new towels of any kind in 15 years (actually, ever) since we were gifted about 12 bath size when we were married. I kept 3/4 of those in reserve for when the first few wore out, but years later the ones in use were still perfectly fine and fluffy and useable. I used the reserve towels a grand total of once when we had a window leak, and later after washing and more time in the cupboard finally gave the extra 8 practically new ones to a close friend who is close to the poverty line who I saw was using threadbare old ones.
Also, we both love books and used to buy lots of new releases and classics and enjoyed having a diverse personal library (2 shelves worth at most - but well loved). We slowly switched to the used bookstore trade-ins, where you get 1 new book for every 2 you take, and now we just use the public library for 2-3 titles per week. So nice to have someone else curate all those glorious books while we still get the benefit, but don't have to ever dust them or move them.
Currently living in our biggest place yet at about 1000 sq feet, but really 400 sq ft (the dining room) is unused and other things are spread out so we can easily downsize to something half the size. We don't plan to move due to great location and neighbours plus fair rent, but I really like that it keeps our options open.

Okay, humble brag time. We moved into this place 5 years ago, and the entire move took only 3 hours. That time includes everything: loading the truck with furniture and all our boxes (we were teased for having so many labelled books at the time), completely cleaning the old place and handing in the keys, and unloading on the other end with the bed set up and made and 2 shelves assembled and kitchen completely unpacked. We had about a dozen friends helping us, but all agreed it was the smoothest moving day they had ever seen. About half helped me clean, while half surprised me with the set up on the other end since there was so much time left over before lasagna and beer were being delivered. I have personally helped with 50+ moves of my relatives and friends, and definitely learned a bit from each of them but keeping things simple was probably our biggest factor to success.  Since that time we have reduced our 'stuff' level by many, many boxes of little and sentimental things, but have acquired a much larger couch - probably balancing it out.

*We are not a 100 item household by any means - we filled a 15' Uhaul truck plus had some awkward items in 2 car loads (family of 2).

PJ

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2017, 11:00:24 PM »
I'm a minimalist. Kind of the "one pot, one pan" minimalist. Have a  3 bedroom house with a 2 car garage and most of it is empty (including cabinets and cupboards). Have regular furnishings so don't look too crazy to most people and have a guest bed in one of the rooms but otherwise its all pretty spartan. I love it and find it extremely freeing.When I sell and get rid of furniture everything else will tit in my small truck. Other than a couple of bikes and some sports equipment and camping gear all that's left is clothes,  and also some old photos and important papers that all fit in.a small fireproof box.

I saw what you did there, Spartana!

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #21 on: March 04, 2017, 03:19:33 AM »
I'm a minimalist. Kind of the "one pot, one pan" minimalist. Have a  3 bedroom house with a 2 car garage and most of it is empty (including cabinets and cupboards). Have regular furnishings so don't look too crazy to most people and have a guest bed in one of the rooms but otherwise its all pretty spartan. I love it and find it extremely freeing.When I sell and get rid of furniture everything else will tit in my small truck. Other than a couple of bikes and some sports equipment and camping gear all that's left is clothes,  and also some old photos and important papers that all fit in.a small fireproof box.

I would love to get to that point. My wife holds on to a lot of crap though. I was looking through the closet in our spare bedroom (just a storage room at this point) and I'm pretty sure she has the shoebox for every pair of shoes she has ever purchased. She wants to buy storage shelves, but I'm holding my ground. We have plenty of storage space. We just need to stop wasting the space we have storing garbage.

aaahhrealmarcus

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #22 on: March 04, 2017, 04:18:12 PM »
Born again minimalist here! I used to be a BIG TIME collector of all sorts of "geek" stuff - toys, comics, video games, etc. - but I let it all go. I'm not living in a tiny house and I don't like bare walls, but I do live in a ~500 sq ft apartment and I'm working every day to pare down to just the things I USE and ENJOY using! For me that's a capsule wardrobe, my hiking gear, a nice gaming PC, place to sit, and a very simple kitchen. And a bike, of course!

FireHiker

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #23 on: March 07, 2017, 09:32:53 AM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy.

We probably have more than 300,000 items in legos alone.

We've been out of town the last three weekends but now that we aren't going anywhere for a month I want to really dive in and get rid of more stuff. The house is so cluttered right now and it is really stressing me out.

JLee

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #24 on: March 07, 2017, 09:37:02 AM »
Minimalist, no...but I was able to move to a new place last month in a matter of hours. One evening after work = packing. One evening after work = moving.

It's nice not having a huge house full of stuff.

Slinky

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #25 on: March 07, 2017, 11:34:54 AM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy.

The struggle between saving money and buying storagey things to reduce clutter is real. I am getting a new end table with actual storage space...eventually! It will keep for a while though and I'll just deal with the clutter I want to store in it until there's room in the budget.

JLee

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #26 on: March 07, 2017, 12:14:02 PM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy.

The struggle between saving money and buying storagey things to reduce clutter is real. I am getting a new end table with actual storage space...eventually! It will keep for a while though and I'll just deal with the clutter I want to store in it until there's room in the budget.

Alternatively, get rid of the clutter! ;)
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/getting-rid-of-stuff-clearing-out-clutter

Knapptyme

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #27 on: March 07, 2017, 12:36:39 PM »
I would gladly be a minimalist. Sometimes life doesn't lend itself to be such given my desire not to waste resources and the vast amount of resources I still have that are otherwise not valuable to others (think scrap lumber, bike parts, tools).

There are a lot of tools, not just kitchen tools, that have one purpose. Yet, I need that tool for when that one purpose comes up (i.e. chain breaker). Keeping plastic pots around for the next growing season also looks like clutter, but I use them once or twice per year.

We're a work in progress on all other things, and clothes are a definite area from which to purge. Kids also complicate this process sometimes as I hold onto kids' stuff for a possible future kid.

Needless to say, I admire the ideal.

halftimer

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #28 on: March 08, 2017, 08:50:18 PM »
Okay, humble brag time. We moved into this place 5 years ago, and the entire move took only 3 hours. That time includes everything: loading the truck with furniture and all our boxes (we were teased for having so many labelled books at the time), completely cleaning the old place and handing in the keys, and unloading on the other end with the bed set up and made and 2 shelves assembled and kitchen completely unpacked. We had about a dozen friends helping us, but all agreed it was the smoothest moving day they had ever seen. About half helped me clean, while half surprised me with the set up on the other end since there was so much time left over before lasagna and beer were being delivered.
We had a move like this 2 years ago. We had about 8 friends help us and I think it took 4 hours from getting the truck to taking it back including eating the mandatory pizza. Our friends even helped hook up our washer and dryer, assemble the bed, and put all the furniture where we wanted it. We just had to unpack the boxes and were basically fully moved in and set up in a week. All the friends said it was the easiest move they've been a part of including the guy who was a professional mover in a past life

We're pretty minimalist but not spartan. The move was from a 2800sqft house to a 950sqft one and we fit easily without using a storage unit or putting so much in the garage that the car didn't fit.  And we've still gotten rid of so much stuff since then. We do have paintings on the wall and some knicknacks on the bookshelves but the closets are airy and floor space is plentiful

High five!

Slinky

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #29 on: March 10, 2017, 03:34:22 PM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy.

The struggle between saving money and buying storagey things to reduce clutter is real. I am getting a new end table with actual storage space...eventually! It will keep for a while though and I'll just deal with the clutter I want to store in it until there's room in the budget.

Alternatively, get rid of the clutter! ;)
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/getting-rid-of-stuff-clearing-out-clutter

Ha! If it were useless clutter I would, but the clutter in question is never ending parade of projects I am actively working on. I'd just like a handy place to stash them out of sight, but nearby and accessible and there isn't anywhere. Aside from seating, we have a small tv stand, a coffee table, a magazine rack for music books, and an end table in the living room. No shelves of any kind.

PJ

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #30 on: March 10, 2017, 11:54:41 PM »
On one hand, I probably have too much stuff to be a minimalist. On the other hand, I really dislike extra stuff cluttering the place up. As soon as I decide we have too many of something or we don't use something, it's existence starts to annoy me and I want to get rid of it. Anything that is loved or used AND has a mutually agreed upon home is generally fine. As soon as something falls out of use, isn't loved anymore, or drifts around the house as homeless clutter, I start planning its demise. The war against blankets is endless! I think they breed when no one is home.

I am with you. Seeing things laying around and out of place really bothers me. It affects me psychologically. :-)
I heard that, in U.S., average home has 300,000 items. Now, that is crazy. 

The struggle between saving money and buying storagey things to reduce clutter is real. I am getting a new end table with actual storage space...eventually! It will keep for a while though and I'll just deal with the clutter I want to store in it until there's room in the budget. 

Alternatively, get rid of the clutter! ;)
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/getting-rid-of-stuff-clearing-out-clutter 
 

Ha! If it were useless clutter I would, but the clutter in question is never ending parade of projects I am actively working on. I'd just like a handy place to stash them out of sight, but nearby and accessible and there isn't anywhere. Aside from seating, we have a small tv stand, a coffee table, a magazine rack for music books, and an end table in the living room. No shelves of any kind. 

A number of years ago, a friend's husband was unemployed.  He wanted to start his own business making custom furniture.  And he had built several cool pieces for their home, so I asked him to make me end tables for the living room.  I knew exactly what I wanted: a drawer on top, a cupboard underneath.  The closest I can find to show you is this one:



Mine don't really look like that - they are a lighter wood, plus they are much deeper - the full depth of the couch, almost.  They are such great storage pieces!

(It did take my friend's husband literally years to get around to finishing them - she made him go out and find a job before too long because he was not very self-motivated with his "business" - but I do love them!)

Slinky

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #31 on: March 14, 2017, 11:36:10 AM »
Nice! It seems like the preference is for end tables to be decorative rather than useful, but it seems like a wasted opportunity to me. Then again, I live in an old farmhouse with limited storage vs. a new 3000 sq ft ranch with full basement and attic. Most of the ones I saw had just a small drawer, maybe some open shelving. I finally found one that is like a small wooden trunk with a drawer in the bottom. It's 21" square so lots of storage, the drawer and a pull out tray in the top add a little organization, and the look fits in with my old farmhouse. We'll see how long it takes for me to actually buy an end table and if that one is still there though. Things like this tend to fall pretty far down on the priority list. We've been in the house 4.5 years now and we finally just bought a small rug for the back door. Such decadence! A rug! So absorbent! Lol.

PJ

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #32 on: March 14, 2017, 12:10:06 PM »
LOL! 

Rugs by the door are pretty important when you have a dog that has to go in and out a lot!

Also, yes, I agree, tiny drawers and open shelving for end tables are a bit of a wasted opportunity.  For those who are really minimalists, they can do it, but I love having a place close to hand to stash extra throw blankets for the couch in one cupboard, and the supplies for the cat's sub-Q fluid treatments in the other, as well as things like my Bible and prayer book, phone charger, hand lotion, etc in the drawers.

Slinky

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #33 on: March 14, 2017, 01:57:12 PM »
LOL! 

Rugs by the door are pretty important when you have a dog that has to go in and out a lot!

Also, yes, I agree, tiny drawers and open shelving for end tables are a bit of a wasted opportunity.  For those who are really minimalists, they can do it, but I love having a place close to hand to stash extra throw blankets for the couch in one cupboard, and the supplies for the cat's sub-Q fluid treatments in the other, as well as things like my Bible and prayer book, phone charger, hand lotion, etc in the drawers.

Nah, you just have to do more mopping. A quick pass with a dry mop to soak up puddles and more frequent wet mopping to deal with mud and dirt accumulation. My husband's work boots were worse than the dog actually. Rugs aren't essential, but they are really nice to have! Most household goods and furniture fall into that category in my opinion. I certainly don't need a new end table, which is why it will likely be purchased from my discretionary funds after I've saved up enough. Even my Household Goods budget allocation has better things to do with itself, like dealing with the bowl shortage of 2017.

Slinky

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #34 on: March 15, 2017, 06:46:48 PM »
Nice! It seems like the preference is for end tables to be decorative rather than useful, but it seems like a wasted opportunity to me. Then again, I live in an old farmhouse with limited storage vs. a new 3000 sq ft ranch with full basement and attic. Most of the ones I saw had just a small drawer, maybe some open shelving. I finally found one that is like a small wooden trunk with a drawer in the bottom. It's 21" square so lots of storage, the drawer and a pull out tray in the top add a little organization, and the look fits in with my old farmhouse. We'll see how long it takes for me to actually buy an end table and if that one is still there though. Things like this tend to fall pretty far down on the priority list. We've been in the house 4.5 years now and we finally just bought a small rug for the back door. Such decadence! A rug! So absorbent! Lol.
I think you just hit on.the key difference between a minimalist and someone who's well organised. The well organised person looks at things in terms of storage capability whereas that doesn't matter to the minimalist as they don't have anything to store ;-).

Well there you go. In that case I am generally minimalist, but I make a few exceptions for areas in which I am simply well organized, primarily those relating to my passion.

skeeder

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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #35 on: March 16, 2017, 02:04:08 PM »
I am.

Love Joshua Becker and the minimalists.

However, I have 3 kiddos, so I can't say my house is 'empty' in the sense most minimalists think of it.


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Re: Minimalism
« Reply #36 on: March 17, 2017, 02:59:41 AM »
No, I am not a minimalist. But we have plans to become that after FIRE and I am not sure whether I would like it. My DH and I have many different hobbies that require some amount of equipment. I did sum it up in another thread in this forum once and it was a terribly long list. I also have a tendency to hold on to all the stuff we have, just in case we ever need it again. Like boxes with Ikea screws and all kinds of tools. Although I have been good at throwing away some big things when we moved last year, like piles of books and a solarium that was not in use. I also throw away clothes I don't use anymore from time to time.

After FIRE, our plan is to travel (outdoor type travel) a lot. Then we are supposed to sell most of the stuff we own and just keep the outdoor equipment. The idea is that everything else is stuff you can sell used and buy back used. We also plan to downsize to a much smaller and cheaper house when we settle down after travelling. During the travel we should try to rent out the house for a year or so and then it needs to be emptied for all the stuff we can easily sell and buy back again. Only, when we settle down after travelling again, it would be a pain to invest again in e.g. tools and kitchen gear. So our goal must be to store the stuff we want to keep for later in 1 room/basement of the house while we rent it out. Or hire a storage room.

We do however have a pretty minimalist living room. I don't like having lots of stuff around that makes it more difficult to clean. The stuff is more in the basement, a room beside the garage and in the extra rooms in the house. But we should so definitively reduce our amount of stuff. I am mentally prepared to start cleaning out a lot of stuff soon, starting with the things we haven't used for a long time.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!