Minimalism - anyone here take this on?

[cantdrv55]

I’m slowly parting with clothes, books, collections and other stuff I haven’t used in a while but it’s a very hard thing to do. I don’t think I can get rid of most of my toys right now but eventually I’m going to have to if I want to minimize and simplify my life and gain back time. Wifey is waaay on board with this. She thinks I have too many distractions keeping me away from the honey do list. That freaking list keeps growing though. Maybe I should I un-retire and go back to work.

Anyway, is anyone here a minimalist or aspiring to be one? How do you feel after shedding your possessions?

[Evans, Marv]

I haven't shed many of my possessions. I can't let go of tools & resources I might need to do something around my place. At my age, I can see panic setting in pretty soon. I don't have a lot of clothes or things like that (except for coats & jackets I've owned for decades & don't want to get rid of because I'm afraid I'll encounter cold weather some time). I can identify with the honey do list situation. I lived my early life pretty much as a minimalist and still see most of my stuff as necessary.

[herr_oberst]

I have a ton of siht, and it's all a distraction these days. I start to make a plan to get rid of some of it and I get distracted and don't do anything. I seriously want to live in a pole barn with an overhead loft. I would just putter around the barn all day or go hiking or biking or driving, but I cannot get off the schneid and just get going.

[masraum]

We lived in a home with the kids for ~18 years. It wasn't a big home, 1950sqft, 2 story, so only half that for a footprint. It was a 4br with not much in the attic. There was a 2 car garage that we parked cars in along with some space at the end of the garage where I kept tools and stuff. There was some stuff in the garage attic. We had a small shed in the back yard.

We downsized and moved into an apt. We got rid of a ton of stuff including a ton of my stuff from the garage and almost everything from the shed. It was tough. We do have a storage unit (10'x5'). It was mostly heirloom stuff and a few tools (first set that was a gift from parents when I turned 16, stuff that was dad's or grandfathers, some furniture that was in her family)

We are in a house. I'm beginning to acquire more stuff (stuff that you need to maintain a yard and a 100 year old house).

It's tough to get rid of stuff, and I do occasionally think "I wish I had XYZ..."

But it's pretty nice to not have a ton of stuff to worry about.

[flatbutt]

I got rid of two wives. You just need to set your teeth and do it!

[JackDidley]

Pretty minimal lifestyle here. I live in a 720 square foot house. 2 car garage with the tools I need. My excesses are my car and truck. Mostly the truck. It gets 14 mpg. Car may seem excessive but it was not that expensive and gets 28 mpg on the road, 22 in town. I just do not need a lot of possessions. I try to not aquire a lot of things that someone will have to deal with when I die.

[RANDY P]

Pay insurance, buy parts, move cars, 1,2,3,4. Wash cars, fill cars, 1,2,3,4. Buy more parts for the future.

Honestly, it is getting a bet cumbersome, expensive and tiring.

rjp

[Gogar]

Ask someone who's cleaned out the home of a deceased parent how they feel about this subject. It'll straighten you right up

[LWJ]

I am finishing up on an estate of my buddy, who was a small h hoarder...

I am down with cleaning crap out.

[porsche tech]

Like Steve, we raised our family and lived in the same house for 30 plus years. Attic and basement had a lot of stuff accumulated over those years. We retired to a smaller home and prior to moving, made about 50 trips to either Good Will or the dump. Been here 10 years and unfortunately it’s starting to accumulate again!

[jcommin]

I got divorced 1n 2010 and sold a 3000 sq ft house plus garage. It was full of stuff. After splitting assets, i got rid of allot of this. I moved everything else into a one car garage. That moment I looked and reflected of 60 years on this earth and after 25 years of marriage, this is a reflection of me.

When I moved into an apartment, I sorted everything in that garage and kept what was important to me. No frills, nothing expensive, used furniture, minimal clothes - I'm much happier. I do have hobbies - I have an art studio in my place that takes up half of my living room.

[Seahawk]

One the personal side, I have never "collected" anything so I have always been pretty much a minimalist in that regard.

On the farm side I have been shedding as much as possible. I have given away a lot of redundant tools to friends and have made tool boxes for my daughter and son as well as friends of theirs. I gave a friend a mine a ton of stuff last weekend that he collects - hand planners (sp) a router, etc. Tools that I will never, ever use.

The Mennonite/Amish Auction is in November and I have a ton of stuff I am going to sell.

When we sell the farm I will take a small amount of stuff with me and include the rest in the farm purchase price or have an onsite auction.

I have a lot of space



Soybeans are up! Taken yesterday.

[GH85Carrera]

Yes and no. I emptied out my parents house. They had a 53 year marriage, and collected a lot of crap. Even both of their parents stuff, and my aunt's stuff.

I am sorta a minimalist. I have never had motorcycles, jet skis, boats, off road vehicles, trailers, race cars, or played golf or collected sports memorabilia.

But I do have some "stuff" and I will be emptying out my attic some this winter when it is cool up there. Just this week, I had to make a special tool to remove the fight fixture from a ceiling fan. One and a quarter inch PVC slip connector and a piece of one and quarter inch pipe. I had it all "in stock" and never needed to make a trip to the hardware store.






Getting fingertips on that little ring is hard enough. Aligning it to screw back on is ever harder. My special tool made it possible with much greater ease.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Ask someone who's cleaned out the home of a deceased parent how they feel about this subject. It'll straighten you right up

Myy kids are gonna curse my corpse when they need to clean out my house. I'm not a pack rat but I have a lot stuff because of my eclectic interests. One wall (approx 10 x 8) is a built in bookcase that is full to bursting. There's music equipment and instruments. Camping equipment to include backpacking stuff, skis, snowshoes, ice climbing equipment oh man. Then there's all of my astronomy equipment which includes 4 telescopes and all the various accoutrements. Forget the basement with my tools, my Dad's tools etc. But wait there's more.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

Anyway, is anyone here a minimalist or aspiring to be one? How do you feel after shedding your possessions?

Yes I am.

Have everything you want.

[GH85Carrera]

I see people discussing a "tiny house" or cabin in the woods and how they think that would be wonderful. I will never live in a house with less than a three car garage as long as I can drive. I like living in the suburbs. Lots and lots of nearby restaurants and grocery stores. I do live on the edge of the crowds. I can drive for three miles sometimes and not see another moving car.

[GG Allin]

I look at everything around the house as cubic feet or cubic meters. Been moving a lot out, doesn't seem like I'm making a dent though.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Myy kids are gonna curse my corpse when they need to clean out my house. I'm not a pack rat but I have a lot stuff because of my eclectic interests. One wall (approx 10 x 8) is a built in bookcase that is full to bursting. There's music equipment and instruments. Camping equipment to include backpacking stuff, skis, snowshoes, ice climbing equipment oh man. Then there's all of my astronomy equipment which includes 4 telescopes and all the various accoutrements. Forget the basement with my tools, my Dad's tools etc. But wait there's more.

That's my problem. I have and acquire interests all of the time. I've gotten pretty good at looking at something that I want and thinking, "I'll buy that, think it's cool/interesting, and it'll end up sitting on a shelf or in a box." I end up talking myself out of buying a lot of stuff that I want that way.

My wife and I are both readers. We had 3 rooms with built in bookshelves that covered a wall. We got rid of more than half of our books when we downsized. When we downsized, we moved from a home to a ~1250sqft 2 br apt, then 8 months later, we moved to an apt of ~850sqft. We got rid of more books and stuff when we went to the 1br apt. I'd love to have a house with a library full of books, but we have not begun acquiring more books like we used to.

[mjohnson]

Really dramatic, "insta-worthy", minimalism is sort of cliched and definitely a "I'm hip and rich enough to buy whatever I need whenever I need to" signifier.

However, what we call "de-crapifying" is always on our list. Heck, I've got boxes from grad school (>20 ago) that haven't been opened in this century...

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, I have crap in boxes the attic that I put up there when we moved in 24 years ago. Most of that will go right to the landfill. I just need to get up there to do it. It is way easier to ignore it.