Minimalism, "The 20/20 Rule" of downsizing, cognitive dissonance

[cjottawa]

Hey all!

Tangentially related to Mustachianism, I've redoubled my efforts lately to downsize.

This has led to some interesting discussions with family and friends and I wonder if you folks have experienced this.

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I have yet to miss any of these things. (why did I need two hammers, or a 215-piece drill and driver kit, when I only use 6 bits regularly?)

I save a tonne of money avoiding buying "just in case" items too, which is directly mustachian.

Friends and family light-heartedly tease me when I occasionally ask for a spare "thing-a-ma-jig." (example: I recently needed a single metal washer for a minor furniture repair)

"Well if you'd kept that parts bin around, you wouldn't need to ask for a washer!"

"The washer isn't the issue; it's the 10,000 other 'things' I don't have to warehouse."

[blankly staring into space while reevaluating their life]

At the same time they're busting my chops over a single, flat, metal washer, they're lamenting a tool they need that's buried under piles of clutter.

I also adapt tools and materials to my purposes, with nobody the wiser when they see the final result. "The more you know, the less you need."

[I'm a red panda]

I had a similar thought yesterday.
I have 3 hairbrushes and 1 comb.  I use the comb on occasion (more often when my hair is long). I haven't used a brush in almost a decade.

Why am I keeping these hairbrushes?

[MayDay]

This is my conflict with my H.  Precisely. 

I would rather get rid of things that I have evaluated as unlikely to be needed.  He would rather hand on to anything that might be needed.  And also anything sentimental, lol.  Which is all the things.  Then he holds over my head every single thing I once got rid of and then needed to replace.

Anyway, although I agree with you, I do try to evaluate the odds that I might need something, and keep it if its likely.  Like with kids stuff especially, they seem to have an ungodly amount of clothes, for example, but they destroy them, and fuck if I can find a swimsuit in August or new snow pants in March (which gets at your find in 20 minutes rule).  But also it would just be dumb to turn down a free pair of snowpants in November that I can hold onto in case they blow the knees out in March.  I'll donate the extras in April if we make it. 

[Vanchica]

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I had not heard this rule- this is genius :)

People still asleep in the Matrix will always try to pull you back in.

[cjottawa]

I had a similar thought yesterday.
I have 3 hairbrushes and 1 comb.  I use the comb on occasion (more often when my hair is long). I haven't used a brush in almost a decade.

Why am I keeping these hairbrushes?

I totally get that. I had a bunch of tools with overlapping uses that I only used one of. I'm still finding things like that, much in the kitchen and bathroom. :)

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I had not heard this rule- this is genius :)

People still asleep in the Matrix will always try to pull you back in.

*nods*

My focus is more on "durable goods" not consumables which I view clothing as.

Ditto things like toiletries or dried pasta: it's a matter of when I'll consume them, not if.

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I had not heard this rule- this is genius :)

People still asleep in the Matrix will always try to pull you back in.

It is like a whole new world (breaks into Disney song) opening up when you figure this stuff out! It seems like everyone around you are just sleepwalkers. Love the analogy.

[LiveLean]

I've been purging a lot this year. My biggest rule of thumb is that if I haven't touched it in one year, it goes. Holiday decorations get touched every 11 or so months (late November, January) but even there that's a big opportunity to let go of stuff.

I've gotten rid of a ton of stuff and not once have I found myself needing something I purged.

[Chris22]

Hey all!

Tangentially related to Mustachianism, I've redoubled my efforts lately to downsize.

This has led to some interesting discussions with family and friends and I wonder if you folks have experienced this.

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I have yet to miss any of these things. (why did I need two hammers, or a 215-piece drill and driver kit, when I only use 6 bits regularly?)

I save a tonne of money avoiding buying "just in case" items too, which is directly mustachian.

Friends and family light-heartedly tease me about occasionally asking for a spare "thing-a-ma-jig." (example: I recently needed a single metal washer for a minor furniture repair)

"Well if you'd kept that parts bin around, you wouldn't need to ask for a washer!"

"The washer isn't the issue; it's the 10,000 other 'things' I don't have to warehouse."

[blankly staring into space while reevaluating their life]

At the same time they're busting my chops over a single, flat metal washer, they're lamenting not being able to find some tools or part that's disappeared into caverns of clutter.

I also adapt tools and materials to my purposes, with nobody the wiser when they see the final result. "The more you know, the less you need."

At a high level, sure.  At a practical level, I have a rolling tool box, a work bench (w/ 2 drawers) and a wall cabinet in my garage to house my tools.  As long as a tool fits in there (and I still have some storage capacity open) there's really no reason to throw it away.  I do tend to hoard/accumulate tools, and occasionally have to throw some out to meet my current storage capacity, but given that I always have those three places to store tools and am not going to get rid of them, keeping them 25% or 50% filled is no better or worse than 100% filled.  (A lot of my tools are hand-me-downs or have been acquired over years, and don't have any significant resale value).

[cjottawa]

At a high level, sure.  At a practical level, I have a rolling tool box, a work bench (w/ 2 drawers) and a wall cabinet in my garage to house my tools.  As long as a tool fits in there (and I still have some storage capacity open) there's really no reason to throw it away.  I do tend to hoard/accumulate tools, and occasionally have to throw some out to meet my current storage capacity, but given that I always have those three places to store tools and am not going to get rid of them, keeping them 25% or 50% filled is no better or worse than 100% filled.  (A lot of my tools are hand-me-downs or have been acquired over years, and don't have any significant resale value).

Sure, I get you.

I also have a toolbox, several if you include things like the Dremel kit, drill case, car kit etc.

I do keep some things around: a small parts case with commonly use drywall anchors and long screws for anchoring shelf brackets and so forth. I use that stuff fairly regularly.

Everyone is going to have different "regular use" versus "just in case" items.

[Thegoblinchief]

I've had way too many instances of "crap, why did I give that away??" over the past few years that I tend to err on the side of keeping things unless I just can't find a home for it (or it's worth the $ to sell it and I know i can rebuy conveniently).

[Chris22]

At a high level, sure.  At a practical level, I have a rolling tool box, a work bench (w/ 2 drawers) and a wall cabinet in my garage to house my tools.  As long as a tool fits in there (and I still have some storage capacity open) there's really no reason to throw it away.  I do tend to hoard/accumulate tools, and occasionally have to throw some out to meet my current storage capacity, but given that I always have those three places to store tools and am not going to get rid of them, keeping them 25% or 50% filled is no better or worse than 100% filled.  (A lot of my tools are hand-me-downs or have been acquired over years, and don't have any significant resale value).

Sure, I get you.

I also have a toolbox, several if you include things like the Dremel kit, drill case, car kit etc.

I do keep some things around: a small parts case with commonly use drywall anchors and long screws for anchoring shelf brackets and so forth. I use that stuff fairly regularly.

Everyone is going to have different "regular use" versus "just in case" items.

Yes, I think where minimalism falls apart a little bit is that they are right (to some extent) that "everything has a cost to own" but they generally don't explore it any further that that to discuss what that cost is per item and how it differs across items.  One could own a hammer, a TV, a Ferrari, a yacht, or a beach house.  Each thing has "a cost to own" but the costs are wildly divergent. 

Or more directly, I own 4 different types of hammers (regular claw, compact claw, deadblow, rubber mallet) .  I was also considering buying a gas pressure washer.  Both are tools.  A hammer is about 1' long and has zero ongoing costs.  A pressure washer is about 3'x2'x3' and requires maintenance, winterizing, etc.  I elected not to purchase the pressure washer, but to borrow instead, since I didn't want another thing to store and maintain each season change.  I don't have any qualms about my 4 hammers.  Minimalism, in its desire to "just own less stuff" doesn't seem to make that distinction clearly. 

[Geostache]

This is my conflict with my H.  Precisely. 

I would rather get rid of things that I have evaluated as unlikely to be needed.  He would rather hand on to anything that might be needed.  And also anything sentimental, lol.  Which is all the things.  Then he holds over my head every single thing I once got rid of and then needed to replace.

I could have written that myself. After moving into our new house, I was helping DH unpack his office and came across an entire banker's box full of empty (!) CD jewel cases. His response "I didn't just want to throw them out." I get it. But really? We moved a box full of empty jewel cases?

[bacchi]

I've had way too many instances of "crap, why did I give that away??" over the past few years that I tend to err on the side of keeping things unless I just can't find a home for it (or it's worth the $ to sell it and I know i can rebuy conveniently).

Yeah, me too, especially with computer parts and tools. I've had to go to Goodwill to buy something I donated the previous week.

[Gone Fishing]

This is my conflict with my H.  Precisely. 

I would rather get rid of things that I have evaluated as unlikely to be needed.  He would rather hand on to anything that might be needed.  And also anything sentimental, lol.  Which is all the things.  Then he holds over my head every single thing I once got rid of and then needed to replace.

I could have written that myself. After moving into our new house, I was helping DH unpack his office and came across an entire banker's box full of empty (!) CD jewel cases. His response "I didn't just want to throw them out." I get it. But really? We moved a box full of empty jewel cases?

Moving time is not the time to decide what to keep and what to throw out.  Ideally, this is done well in advance of moving. If it is not, it is generally financially advantageous to go ahead and move everything, unless you are doing something like moving halfway around the globe and paying by the pound*.  If done on moving day, under duress, people throw out all sorts of perfectly useful and valuable items in an attempt to reduce the stress of moving.  The incremental effort of loading and unloading one (or even 10) additional box of items (unless they are filled with bricks or similar) is negligible in the overall moving effort.

*My sister moved halfway around the globe and paid a flat fee for a shipping container.  She wishes she had kept more things as there was room in the container and items were much cheaper here than there.   

[Gray Matter]

I'm going to use this 20/20 rule as we unpack things back into our house (house has been emptied to refinish the floors).  I tried to sort and purge as we packed up, but only got through my scrapbooking supplies (hour and hours of sorting) and books (more hours and hours of sorting), leaving every other goddamned thing in the house thrown into boxes.  So the sort/purge didn't happen on the front end, but we have another perfect opportunity now (today, literally, as the movers will be here any minute).

[I'm a red panda]

If it is not, it is generally financially advantageous to go ahead and move everything, unless you are doing something like moving halfway around the globe and paying by the pound*. 

One nice thing when the air force moved us is we didn't pay by the pound.
So we would not clean out ANYTHING when moving.

But when we unpacked. If it didn't immediately have a home, it got tossed. If it went 3 months without being unpacked, it got tossed.

[zephyr911]

Eeek. We downsized last November (1900->1144sf) and apparently we still have too much space... half the crap in my office/guest room hasn't been touched yet.
We've made progress, but I've just been too damn busy. Time to fix that.
Goal: next place <1000sf and not cluttered.

[FIRE me]

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I have yet to miss any of these things. (why did I need two hammers, or a 215-piece drill and driver kit, when I only use 6 bits regularly?)

My test is this: May I need it in the future? Do I have room to properly store it? If the answer to both is yes, I keep it. I can't tell you how many things I have repaired for free, because I already had precisely what I needed. No purchase, no gas wasted, no time wasted.

[Cassie]

I have never had to re-buy anything that I have given away.

[EricP]

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I have yet to miss any of these things. (why did I need two hammers, or a 215-piece drill and driver kit, when I only use 6 bits regularly?)

My test is this: May I need it in the future? Do I have room to properly store it? If the answer to both is yes, I keep it. I can't tell you how many things I have repaired for free, because I already had precisely what I needed. No purchase, no gas wasted, no time wasted.

Seems like the best midpoint between hoarding and minimalism, but come moving time then you just buy the right sized house and purge what can't be stored as opposed to buying a larger house knowing you'll need the walk in closet to store all your stuff.

[Cassie]

I always purge now before I move. When I was younger I packed & moved some really dumb stuff. Also we were down to 1 pair of scissors so looked in shed & garage. one by one my hubby had taken them all out there. Now they are in the house. They don't take up much space so something like that I will keep.

[I'm a red panda]

I have never had to re-buy anything that I have given away.

I am going to have to buy new mascara.  I tossed ALL my makeup a few months ago.  Haven't needed it yet, but will in about a month. Of course, that mascara was like 5 years old (and some of the makeup almost 20!) so, it needed to be purged anyway.

[NoraLenderbee]

I've gotten my husband to the point where he's willing to get rid of parts and attachments for appliances we no longer own. Baby steps.

[Cranky]

Do you save money by getting rid of things? Or by not buying them in the first place?

[AZDude]

I think part of the appeal of minimalism is that you do not have to spend time organizing, cleaning, etc... the stuff you do own, combined with less stuff means you can have a smaller home. I think a purge once in awhile to get rid of stuff with no use is necessary to prevent you from ending up with a storage shed full of old junk.

[cjottawa]

Lots of great replies today. Thanks for being part of the discussion everyone.

I've had way too many instances of "crap, why did I give that away??" over the past few years that I tend to err on the side of keeping things unless I just can't find a home for it (or it's worth the $ to sell it and I know i can rebuy conveniently).

Yeah, me too, especially with computer parts and tools. I've had to go to Goodwill to buy something I donated the previous week.

For me, those moments are dwarfed by the number of items I've ditched and never needed again.

I doubt anyone but the die hard pack rat would view me as extreme in my minimalist leanings.

Do you save money by getting rid of things? Or by not buying them in the first place?

Both.

My latest "ah ha" moment:

I bought a dry bag for gear storage.

While cleaning out a gear box that hadn't been touched in years, I found exactly the same type of dry bag that I just bought.

So, yeah, "having less stuff" means not re-buying already-owned but forgotten about items!

[FIRE me]

My test is this: May I need it in the future? Do I have room to properly store it? If the answer to both is yes, I keep it. I can't tell you how many things I have repaired for free, because I already had precisely what I needed. No purchase, no gas wasted, no time wasted.

Seems like the best midpoint between hoarding and minimalism, but come moving time then you just buy the right sized house and purge what can't be stored as opposed to buying a larger house knowing you'll need the walk in closet to store all your stuff.

I admit I hate to move. But I plan to die in my current house, so one day it will be somebody else's problem.

[Vanchica]

Over at the often-down blog called "Man vs Debt" there is a guest writer (?jill?Joanne?) who wrote a post that referred to the cycle of "want it, buy it, forget it"

I used to shop online and when things were delivered be completely shocked at what I had bought. AND sometimes find I had bought things twice. AND frequently never use the items I bought.

I know that's extreme but forgetting we own things is a sign we own too much, I agree

[Melody]

As a young person I have the advantage of never having acquired useful stuff in the first place... Off to get some pliers from the neighbour so I can change my wiper blades ;-)

[Novillero]

I got motivated by this post ... Just sold tools I inherited, that I have never touched in the past 13 years ... For $500.  I got a neighbor to appraise them. Meanwhile a friend happened to stop by ... And he offered a fair price.

I am getting a bunch of other stuff ready for our town's town-wide yard sale.

It feels good, and the money is going to a special daddy-daughter fund.  :-)

[cjottawa]

I got motivated by this post ... Just sold tools I inherited, that I have never touched in the past 13 years ... For $500.  I got a neighbor to appraise them. Meanwhile a friend happened to stop by ... And he offered a fair price.

I am getting a bunch of other stuff ready for our town's town-wide yard sale.

It feels good, and the money is going to a special daddy-daughter fund.  :-)

NICE! I wasn't counting what I'd made so far... adding it up, I'm at $410. :O I had no idea.

The rest of the stuff I've listed adds up to a bit over $1000. That's $1400 that could be in a dividend paying index fund instead of collecting dust, though I've been toying with some sporting equipment I'd actually use...

EDIT - another batch of stuff sold. Up $325 for a total of $735.

[avm]

I have never had to re-buy anything that I have given away.

I am going to have to buy new mascara.  I tossed ALL my makeup a few months ago.  Haven't needed it yet, but will in about a month. Of course, that mascara was like 5 years old (and some of the makeup almost 20!) so, it needed to be purged anyway.

Can you re-examine this?  Do you really need makeup?  I think the last time I purchased makeup was for my wedding.  And the last time before that was about 10 years earlier for my friend's wedding.  I don't wear makeup and no one has ever commented on it.   If you had 5-20 year old mascara you probably don't wear it much anyway.

I found that tinting my eyelashes meant I could ditch my mascara for good. You can just buy tinting kits at the pharmacy/beauty store and diy your brows and eyelashes. Takes about 15 mins and lasts for 8-12 weeks and you get about 20 applications for a AU$16-20 pack.... and you don't look like that panda meme without eye makeup haha.

[fishnfool]

I always enjoy doing a purge of extra non essential items a few times a year. About every other year I'll go through my closet and get rid of clothes I don't wear. My garage needs to be purged soon. It feels like a bit of a load lifted off you're shoulders after getting rid of stuff. It really is a burden to own and store stuff you just don't really need or use often. I will keep that 20/20 rule in mind. Thanks for sharing that!

[zephyr911]

Do you save money by getting rid of things? Or by not buying them in the first place?

Yes.

[1967mama]

I've not heard of this rule but WOW does it ever make good sense! Implementing, forthwith!

[I'm a red panda]

Can you re-examine this?  Do you really need makeup?  I think the last time I purchased makeup was for my wedding.  And the last time before that was about 10 years earlier for my friend's wedding.  I don't wear makeup and no one has ever commented on it.   If you had 5-20 year old mascara you probably don't wear it much anyway.

Yes- for family photos I really do need mascara.  It makes a difference.  I'll just buy the cheapest tube I can find and then toss it again instead of letting it stack up for the day.  Or if I have time go to Dillards and ask the Clinique counter if I can try a sample :)

I don't wear makeup any other time in life.  The only time I've worn lipstick in my entire life that wasn't a dance or ice skating competition was my wedding.


This rule was really helpful cleaning out the utility room this weekend. We took about 20 switches and 50 different plate covers to ReStore.  They were left over from the construction of our house, or from changing them out and "saving them".  But these thing cost just cents.  We also have the builder grade light fixtures we took down when we put ceiling fans up. I'm going to try to sell them first, then they'll go to ReStore. We were going to hold onto them to put up when we move; but really- why bother taking the ceiling fans with us? We can pay the few hundred to get new ones in a new house.

[Cassie]

Got motivated again and within a few hours had filled my trunk. I could not find anything in my hall closet so tackled that first & then got motivated to look at other areas. I have done this so much that I think I have nothing left but always find stuff.

[ender]

This is my conflict with my H.  Precisely. 

I would rather get rid of things that I have evaluated as unlikely to be needed.  He would rather hand on to anything that might be needed.  And also anything sentimental, lol.  Which is all the things.  Then he holds over my head every single thing I once got rid of and then needed to replace.

I could have written that myself. After moving into our new house, I was helping DH unpack his office and came across an entire banker's box full of empty (!) CD jewel cases. His response "I didn't just want to throw them out." I get it. But really? We moved a box full of empty jewel cases?

I threw away a bunch of jewel cases the other day, too :)

[music lover]

An idea I quite like is the "20/20 Rule:" Get rid of any "just in case" items that can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes from your current location.

I have yet to miss any of these things. (why did I need two hammers, or a 215-piece drill and driver kit, when I only use 6 bits regularly?)

My test is this: May I need it in the future? Do I have room to properly store it? If the answer to both is yes, I keep it. I can't tell you how many things I have repaired for free, because I already had precisely what I needed. No purchase, no gas wasted, no time wasted.

Inside my house I don't have a lot of stuff...you only need 1 iron, 1 kettle, 1 set of pots/pans, 1 set of dishes, etc.

But DIY is different. I have a large garage so storage space is not an issue. I keep all sorts of things that I "might" need in the future, and many of them get used sooner or later. One example: I've replaced and installed 100 doors in my life and have a box of "door parts" (hinges, screws, door hardware, etc.) If someone needs a door to be fixed and a part is needed, I will have the part that is needed 99% of the time. Therefore, I have a lot of tools and spare parts in my garage to cover almost any home DIY need. I may only need 6 screwdriver bits, but a container of 50 takes up no space.

[Mr Dumpster Stache]

I think part of the appeal of minimalism is that you do not have to spend time organizing, cleaning, etc... the stuff you do own, combined with less stuff means you can have a smaller home. I think a purge once in awhile to get rid of stuff with no use is necessary to prevent you from ending up with a storage shed full of old junk.

I can improve on this method even further! Why waste time getting rid of stuff (so that you don't have to clean and organize it) when you can just not clean or organize it in your garage/shed/closet/attic/under bed! Think of all that time you'll save not listing it on ebay!

This is pretty much my method...

[Astatine]

I have never had to re-buy anything that I have given away.

Me too, with only one (minor) exception. Dental floss sticks. DH bought them for me after I couldn't use my hands properly for a couple of weeks (emergency visit to hospital, they put a cannula in the wrist artery which caused a lot of bruising. And the other wrist suffered the same bruising from the first attempt to insert the cannula in that wrist). So I figured after a few years that was a one off need and got rid of them. Several months later, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have urgent surgery. Which again messed up with my ability to use my hands (bruising on the side of the surgery, cannula with lots of tubing on the hand on the other side for several days). So we had to rebuy the dental floss sticks. But, no regrets. It only cost a couple of $ and how could I have forseen the need for urgent surgery.

My regrets have always been around, why on earth didn't I get rid of all this stuff earlier.

I read this blog post by Brooks Palmer a couple of years ago and it stuck in my head ever since (the comments are awesome as well).

We keep spares of things we use up and have a basic collection of tools (we don't DIY) and sewing stuff, but other than that, we can borrow stuff from friends or go out to the recycling shed at the rubbish tip and buy stuff there very cheaply. I don't consider that I own most of my stuff (laptop and smartphone are the exceptions - I will use those til they are at end-of-life); rather that I temporarily rent things, with the purchase cost being the cost to rent. Friends give us stuff, we give stuff to friends and anything unwanted goes out on freecycle, to charity or the recycle shed at the tip. For me, owning stuff feels like stuff owns me. Been there, done that, got the postcard (then chucked the postcard :p).

[Meowkins]

As a young person I have the advantage of never having acquired useful stuff in the first place... Off to get some pliers from the neighbour so I can change my wiper blades ;-)

I burst out laughing when I read this because I am largely in the same boat.

[fishnfool]

I spent the better part of the weekend cleaning and organizing thanks to this thread. I have a big pile of items ready for the metal recycling at the landfill and I also put our elliptical for sale on CL. Feels good to get rid of clutter. I put some old patio chairs on the lawn with a "free" sign and they were gone in an hour...lol  I have been consciously thinking about the 20/20 rule as I go through stuff.

Hooray!

[stlbrah]

I have been downsizing slowly for about a year, but I have no desire to get rid of things when I do not feel there is a point. I have sold no longer worn cllothing and electronics, furniture, etc. I have donated a lot of clothes, which I plan to claim on tax returns which I never bothered with before.

I can't make any money selling a hammer, and a hammer doesn't take up much space, so this isn't something I would bother with.

I once got rid of a full size refrigerator I got for free and used for a while in the garage because I stopped using it and was tired of looking at it. Right after that my main refrigerator broke and I had to buy a new one. This is an example of why I don't like to use "rules of thumb."

If I haven't used something in a year and it has value, I sell it. If I can't sell it, I think about whether or not there is any chance at all I will ever use it again, factor in space saving, etc.

[Jenie]

For rare occasions like this, you can go to a dept store, purchase a $100 perfume that has a free gift with purchase, like Lancome, Estee Lauder, etc.. Most gifts are like 7 pieces and even if you just use the gift and go return the perfume, they will have you keep the gift. And as you know, those are mini mascaras, and mini of everything :)

[bluecollarmusician]

The part about this that resonates with me is, that it is not the item- it is having to store it and maintain it!
THAT is the number one reason for me to thin the herd!

[1967mama]

For rare occasions like this, you can go to a dept store, purchase a $100 perfume that has a free gift with purchase, like Lancome, Estee Lauder, etc.. Most gifts are like 7 pieces and even if you just use the gift and go return the perfume, they will have you keep the gift. And as you know, those are mini mascaras, and mini of everything :)

This seems to be a bit fuzzy on ethics to me ...

[I'm a red panda]

As a young person I have the advantage of never having acquired useful stuff in the first place... Off to get some pliers from the neighbour so I can change my wiper blades ;-)

We try to keep enough useful things around the house that sometimes others borrow from us. That way, there is no problem when we then need to borrow from them!

Or, when I try to help neighbors out when they are in a bind; the "got a cup of oil?" or "could someone please run and get us a gallon of milk, I'm so sorry!" type emergencies.  Then when I need a pressure washer, or a wheel barrow, or a telescoping ladder to reach the very tip of our two story house- neighbors don't mind at all :)

[Merrie]

I tend to go with a combination of "Will we definitely use it?" and if not "Will we probably use it?" and if not "Does it have sentimental value or would it be a real pain to replace if we did need it?" and if it doesn't pass any of those tests then typically I'll get rid of it. I have very rarely regretted getting rid of something. Stuff like tools falls under "Will probably use it" and I don't really have an acquisition/maintenance cost built into this because I'm primarily looking at small things and that cost is pretty negligible.